Overlord of the Land
by Lightweight
Summary: The time has come for Link and Tetra to build Hyrule anew. But does Tetra even want to face her heritage? And do they have a chance to fulfill destiny when their "promised" land is already inhabited and governed? Update: COMPLETE!
1. Prologue and Chapter 1: Spelunking

**NKB Labs**

**Present:**

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

A Fanfic by: Ninkobra

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own "The Legend of Zelda" or any of its related characters, settings, music, mythology, story, etc. Everything mentioned before is property of Nintendo Company Ltd., Nintendo of America and any other respective parties. Any original plot and characters present within this story, though, are mine.

_PROLOGUE_

Once upon a time, there existed a magnificent kingdom, varied in races and locations, where peace reigned. Three holy deities watched over this blessed land, bringing form and order to the land and its inhabitants. All was well... until a dark man from the west appeared, his eyes set on the fabled golden artifact, the Triforce, which contained the power of the gods. His wickedness was so, that not even defeat at the hands of the Legendary Hero stopped him. He rose from his imprisonment, empowered, and sought to begin his conquest anew. The deities had no choice but to imprison the wicked man alongside his desired prize, and concealing it all within a thick layer of water. Thus, the thriving kingdom became no more.

Hundreds of years pass. the waters become seas, the high mountains are now islands, and only a handful of people reside in them now. Within this stark ocean, Evil awoke anew. The spell that bind him to the bottom of the seas weakened, and he was freed. His resolve had not diminished, and set to look for the heirs of the royal lineage to finally gain the power he sought. However, the hero's lineage had also survived, and a new hero arose to oppose him. The new hero rode the winds and befriended a band of pirates to traverse the seas and repair what was wrong. Unbeknown to him, the pirate captain that helped him turned out to be the next princess in the ancient royal line. This was uncovered by the Dark Man, who captured her and brought her to his tower. Eventually, the hero came face to face with the Evil Man. This was his plan, though, as he knew the hero possessed one piece of the golden Triforce. He would have gotten his wish, but the ghosts of the past played with him once more, robbing him of his wish. Defeated at last, the Evil Man posed no threat for the future, but the ruins of the old kingdom was finally crushed under the massive waves.

The Hero and the Princess moved on and traveled together from then on. The Princess, forsaking her royal links, reverted to her role of the pirate captain. In their travels, they encountered a Ship from the Underworld, which swallowed the Princess away. The Hero gave chase, but was lost to the sea... until he was found in an unknown island. Again seeking help from a pirate and from mystical creatures, he searched the seas until he discovered the cursed ship. The Princess was found, but she was cursed to a prison of stone, and only the sands of the King of the Ocean could restore her. The Hero searched all over until the sands were found, and the Princess was healed. As they were reunited, however, an evil beast made its last stand, the Princess a hostage. Through his wisdom and courage, the Hero did slay the beast, and the Princess was rescued.

Now, once again, the Hero and the Princess -who still retains her facade of the Pirate captain- travel the vast seas, And once again, destiny will define their lives...

And the "Legend of Zelda" shall begin anew...

* * *

Chapter 1:

Spelunking

It was dark. The torches provided the only source of light, and even then they did not allowed to see more than a few feet ahead. There were pitfalls and traps everywhere, and the dim lighting conditions had to provide enough information to avoid these...

_*TWONK*_

_*TRIP*_

_*OW!*_

... And Link just fell right into one of those.

"Link!" Tetra admonished the youth clad in green currently flat on the ground. "We have no time to be clumsy! Get your butt back up and bring that light over to the front, now!" Her firm voice and dagger-like eyes did the trick: the boy got up and clumsily but surely got to the front of the pack. Afterwards, they continued their way along to their goal. Meanwhile, some of the other pirates in the back exchanged uneasy glances and quick words.

"Wow, Miss Tetra sure is riled up today." Senza said.

"Well, it's obvious she's like that. We're looking for treasure!" Niko added.

"Nobody called you, swabbie." Senza said.

"B.. but... Link is the swa..."

"She's even more fired up than usual." Gonzo added. "Almost as if she was desperate to do some honest-to-goodness pirating."

"You know," Nudge got in the conversation, "I've been seeing Miss Tetra wandering about the boat at night lately, muttering something to herself. I couldn't make out what it was, but her face sure looked worried. And when she found out about the treasure in this cave, she literally jumped of joy and relief. And considering the rather shady place she got the information from, it's not exactly something I would be jumping of joy."

Gonzo and Senza were left wondering about this. "What could be troubling Miss Tetra so much?" Gonzo asked, more curious than worried. "It must be something big to be acting so..."

The pirates suddenly felt an empowering presence looming beside them. A massive shadow covered them, giving them the chills. They meekly looked over to where the presence was.

"Acting so... what?" Tetra asked her pirates, with a visibly angered face drawn on her. "You know what I call it when pirates are talking about their captain behind her back? Mutiny. And if you even do as much as entertain the thought of raising up in mutiny, I will personally make sure you walk the plank. Got it?"

"L-l-l-loud and clear." the pirates said in unison.

"Good." Tetra finished with them with a bit of a smug face. "Now then, let's keep going. The treasure's just past this corridor. I can smell it."

... some time later...

"I'm starting to seriously doubt Miss Tetra's sense of smell." Senza said, dumbstruck at the sight.

"Treasure must really smell like snake droppings." Gonzo added, looking into the long and thick snake pit right in front of them. "Are... they poisonous?"

"Oh, don't be such yellow-bellied scaredy-cats." Tetra retorted, looking straight into the room with a sly smile. "Can't you take a little challenge? This little room... these harmless snakes... they're nothing. It's like a small puzzle. We only have to figure out the answer."

Link looked over the snake pit in curiosity, going over Tetra's words in his mind. A small puzzle, waiting for an answer... Then, out of nowhere, he jumped over to the snake pit, much to the surprise of everybody else. Then... he stood solidly in a small and hardly-visible platform just a few feet above the snakes.

"Whoa."

"How did he...?"

"Now see?" Tetra said to her underlings. "_That_ is the type of adventurous, fearless spirit you guys lack. See a challenge, tackle a challenge!" Tetra saw another one of those small platforms nearby and, with a small dash forward, made the leap forward and landed on it. "Come on! Follow my lead!"

Thus, walking from tiny platform to tiny platform, the team of pirates finally made it past the snake pit, and into the next room. This next room, however was no less difficult to cross, partly because of the large, dark pit surrounding it.

"Ok... so now what?" Nudge asked, examining the surroundings.

"Wait, wait, I got this!" Gonzo exclaimed in a burst of genius. He took a lantern and directed it over at a platform. "We need to use some rope to get to that platform in the corner first..."

"I'm on it." Tetra volunteered, grabbing her grappling hook. She tied one part to a stake, then swung the other end to a outcropping on the corner platform, creating a makeshift tightrope. "Don't you dare move the rope or do anything to make me lose my concentration, or I will take your share of the loot." She began to carefully cross the tightrope, when an updraft crept up from the bottom of the dark pit, making her lose her concentration.

"Miss Tetra!"

"Watch out!"

Tetra tried to regain her balance on the tightrope, but the draft had already decided the outcome. The rest of the pirates stood frozen, merely looking dumbstruck watching their captain fall down to her doom.

"KYAAAAAA!"

...

"I'm dead. I know I'm dead. I'm dead and I'm going on to the Spirit Realm, where they lock pirates like me on a dinky, grimy cell for all eternity. I'm so... not... dead?"

Tetra opened her eyes to see herself dangling above the large pit waiting to claim her. She then looks up to see her savior, clad in green, holding tightly to the rope while he holds Tetra at her arm. Tetra could not help but smile in this situation, partly out of relief, and partly out of... out of...

"Ahem..."

Terta quickly recovered herself from the shock and started climbing back to the tightrope with Link's help, and they both crossed to the other platform. Now, if there were only one person on that platform everything would be fine, but since there were two, it was a tad small for both of them to stand on. Still, Tetra pressed on.

"Ok, now what do you have in mind, Gonzo?" She asked the idea guy of the day.

"Ok, let's see." Gonzo said, thinking out the next move. "Grab the grappling hook, I'll untie it." Once he untied it, Tetra rolled it back, ready to use it again. "Now, tie it there, and use it on that stalagmite over there"

"Wouldn't that be a stalactite?" Senza asked.

"No, that's a stalagmite." Gonzo said. "Stalactites are the ones that come from the ceiling. That one's from the ground up."

"You're sure?" Nudge said. "I was almost sure it was the other way around."

"ENOUGH!" Tetra yelled to stop their inane argument. "You can ask Mako about staleckbites and stuff once were outta here. Let's just do what we're here to do, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am" The trio said in unison, down-headed.

Tetra then proceeded to make the tightrope out of the grappling hook once again and, seemingly unshaken by her previous mishap, began crossing it. The other end, however was a stalagmite with no realistic way of standing over it, and no real progression to the other side of the pit. "Well? Any more brilliant ideas, Gonzo?" She asked in a rather scathing tone.

"Ah, yes, I... Well, I..." Gonzo was rushing to find something else to help. He certainly didn't want to be in Tetra's bad side. Not on that day of all. Then, he could just barely make something out in the ceiling of the cave. "There! On the ceiling!" He pointed, almost desperately so. " If you use your grappling hook there, you might just make it to the other side!"

"Perfect." Tetra said... but not in the best of tones. "Let me just take my only footing from below me to try and grab an unlikely mark to see if I 'might' make it to the other side of this pit that seems to hunger for me." She sighed when thinking about the... intelligence... of her crew, and sought to herself to look for another option. "And it doesn't look like I'll even be close to reaching that from the platform Link's on, so that's out, too..." She thought long and hard about her options. There were no other ways to cross the pit, and no other passages they could use to avoid having to cross the pit. She was just about to give up... when... "Link!" She shouted, surprised. The young hardened adventurer had climbed aboard the grappling hook, risking the balance of them both, and started walking to to where Tetra was. "What are you doing, you idiot! You're gonna make us fall for real this time!"

Tetra's scolding seemed to have no influence on Link, for he had that look in his eyes: The look of triumph, of knowledge... of having something the others lacked: bravery, an idea... and a piece of rope.

"What is..." Tetra was asking about the extra grappling hook Link had in his hand. "Where did you get that?"

Instead of answering, Link just swung the grappling hook to the mark and it stuck. He swung away... then, something clicked. Suddenly, some platforms were raised from the ground, making the crossing far easier. Before she could lose her balance due to the shaky ground again, Tetra jumped over to the raising platforms, and thus to safety.

"Well, that was unexpected." Tetra commented.

"That's great, Miss Tetra." Gonzo said. "But... what about us? That new platform doesn't reach all the way here."

Tetra walked over to the end of the platform, which only reaches up to the middle point of the pit, and checked it out. "Hmm... you're right." She quickly signaled to Link to come closer. "Link, give me your bow. And your other grappling hook, too." Getting both items, she tied the grappling hooks to arrows and shot them over to where the other pirates were stuck. "Use those to get here. We'll meet up ahead." Then, she and Link moved on to the next chamber, while the trio were left to fend for themselves.

Needless to say, they were horrible shots when it came to securing the hook to the other side...

Tetra and Link were walking along a corridor, which seemed rather harmless, except for the random rat lurking in it. "According to the map I got, the treasure we're looking for must be in the room right across this corridor." Tetra informed Link while looking at the map. The room in question was practically in front of them, and Link decided to go first to see if things were alright.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the room... except for one distinct difference. The floor was made out of sand, and not stone like the rest of the cave was. Also, there were several small dunes of sand scattered through the room. "_*sigh*_ It's gonna take a long time to uncover that treasure." Tetra said as she inspected the room herself.

As Tetra fully entered the room, however, a door slammed right behind her, locking them inside. The sandy floor started shaking. The sand dunes seemed to disappear, and one large dune began to form right in the middle of the room, where the epicenter of the tremor was. Suddenly, the dune exploded, uncovering...

Overgrown Nearsighted Crawler:

**GIANT MOLE**

This Giant Mole was about twice the height of Link, with very sharp claws, very good hearing but poor eyesight, a massive body, and a strong territorial instinct. It swung its claws menacingly about, not really aiming where the claws went, but trying to make its point.

"Just great." Tetra muttered. "If those slowpokes would be here now, the odds wouldn't be so against us right now."

The Mole, even with its bad eyes, looked straight at Tetra, startling her. It then burrowed into the ground and rushed straight at her. Tetra had no other option but to run away. The Mole looked like it had crashed onto the wall, but didn't come out from underneath the sand. This gave Tetra an idea. She grabbed the shovel she had prepared to dig out the treasure, then shouted at Link's direction. "Link, prepare your sword! I'll drive him out, you nail him!"

When she shouted, the Mole seemed to activate again and burrow right to Tetra's general direction. This time, however, Tetra wasn't going anywhere. She was looking straight at that moving bundle of sand... waiting... biding her time... for the right time... Then, when it was close enough, she slammed her shovel as deep into the ground as she could muster. The solid-iron shovel somehow stopped the Mole cold. This was the opportunity she wanted. She threw her body weight on to the shovel and managed to get the Mole out of the ground. Link with his sword at the ready, moved in and lashed out at the Mole, who was currently unable to move. Suddenly, the Mole rolled over, crushing Link into the sand and regaining movement. It promptly burrowed back into the sand, leaving the pair back on the defensive.

"Link! Are you alright?" Tetra asked as she was pulling him out of the sand. Link just looked at Tetra -rather woozily at that- and smiled signaling he was ok. When he was finally out, Tetra gave him his sword back and signaled at him. "Get ready, because he's coming back."

Having heard Tetra speak, the Mole started charging at her again. Tetra was ready with the shovel to drive him out just like last time. Then, the Mole got close enough, Tetra drove the shovel into the sand again, and... The Mole jumped out of the sand, clearing the shovel and aiming straight for Tetra. Tetra was surprised, but not immobile, as she rolled away from the Mole's landing site just in the last second. Link was worried for a second, but let out a sight of relief when he saw Tetra safe as the dust cleared up.

"He's fast. I'll give him that." Tetra commented while trying to catch her breath. "There's got to be a way to get him to show his ugly mug." She put her hand into her pocket, and stumbled with a small bomb. She then remembered what happened when they entered the room in the first place and met their gracious host. She had brought those bombs in case they needed to blow up a wall or something, but it seems the plans had changed. Tetra waved at Link, pointing at the bomb, not wanting to make any unnecessary noise that would attract the Mole just yet.

Suddenly, the Mole heard this strange surge of sound. Figuring it must have come out of the intruders, it burrowed straight to the source of the noise and decided to leap to surprise whoever it was, just like last time. What it saw was surprising: A hole in the sand, and a sharply darkened wall... which was rapidly approaching it. By blowing up the bomb near the wall, Tetra tricked the Mole into slamming itself onto it, rendering it unconscious. Link then rushed right to the Mole and gave it no chance. The Mole felt the cold arm of death tugging at its soul (editorial: wtf?), and made a final mad dash away from its attackers, before crashing right back into a wall and plopping out.

Puzzled, Tetra goes over to the Mole to ascertain that it was dead. She poked it a few times just to make sure, then sighed in relief. "Well, then, this thing won't be able to scare us anym..." Then a low growl came from the mole, making Tetra let out a short shriek. Out of that low growl, the Mole spit out some items before finally becoming stiff. "Heh, heh... that was just reflex. Nothing more." Tetra commented, with some cold sweat rolling down her forehead.

The pair then explored the items dropped by the Mole. One of them was a Heart Container. Link and Tetra reached for it at the same time, and strangely enough, it broke in half. "Ha! I guess that means I get to keep this part!" Tetra smirked as she grabbed her piece of the Container. The other item was a key. Strange indeed, for neither of them saw a locked door anywhere on the cave. "I'll keep this, just in case." Tetra said as she stowed the key away. "Now, then... where's that treasure?"

Link looked around the room and noticed that, among the sand dunes that disappeared when the Mole appeared, one that was huddled in a corner remained. He whistled at Tetra and pointed at the dune's direction. "Yeah, that might be a good place to start looking. Well done, Link."

Right then, the door that was slammed shut when they entered got blown away by the pirates trying to get inside. "Miss Tetra!" Gonzo shouted. "Are you in here! Are you alright!"

"Idiots!" Tetra immediately yelled at them. "What if I were right in front of that door when you blew it up? What would you do then?" The pirates looked rather down when they were scolded. Tetra's face changed quickly, however. "Well, what can I really do with you guys anyway. And now that you're here, you could start digging for the treasure now."

Thus, every able-bodied man in the group grabbed a shovel and dug away at the dune in the corner. It didn't take long before they reached something solid. "Miss Tetra! I think this is it!" Gonzo shouted at their leader overseeing the work.

"Really? Let me see!" Tetra demanded, pushing her underlings aside and taking a good look at the exquisitely designed treasure chest in front of her. "Quickly! Pull it above ground!"

The pirates tugged at the chest's massive handles, trying to move it to a more manageable place. "Whatever this chest has," Senza started, "It better be good to weight so much." Finally, the chest was entirely out of the sand. However, they were incapable of opening it, since the chest had a lock and it was a very tough lock to break.

"Locked." Nudge commented. "Why did it have to be locked? Why couldn't they be like good pirates and just let the sand be the only lock it needs? Man, I hate unlocking these types of locks."

"What's so bad about these locks?" Senza asked.

"Well," Nudge started "These are special triple-secure locks. If you don't unlock them _just_ the right way, more locks will activate and a special quick-rusting liquid will break out, making opening the chest near impossible."

"If that's the case," Senza said, thinking about what he just heard "Whatever's in here must be really good to be locked like that."

While this was happening, Tetra took her stance, back against the wall. She took that useless key that was inside the Mole, cleaned it a bit, looked at it for a while... and started filing her nails with it. They got the treasure, she thought to herself, but now what? What was the treasure they got? Money? Gold? Title deeds? Some weird other thing? It seems they won't be knowing anytime soon. Not without the key. Not without... the...

"Hey, wait!" Tetra shouted, interrupting the pirates' conversation. "Maybe this is the key."

Nudge took the key and examined it. "Where did you find this, Miss Tetra?" he asked.

"Oh, that friendly mole over there was kind enough to give it to us." Tetra said, pointing at the Mole's corpse.

The pirates finally noticed the Mole's corpse, and looked at its cut and bruised body, and felt a little squeamish. "Oh..." Nudge said, hesitantly. "Well, this looks like it could be the same make as the chest. Should I try it?"

"Go on!" Tetra said, beaming up a large smile. "What could we lose from it?"

"... Only the treasure" Nudge muttered. "... and my head" he whispered.

Nudge inserted the key into the treasure chest's keyhole and turned it very carefully. A few clangs and clicks occurred, but nothing else happened. He looked over at Tetra, who was looking at his actions more curiously than angered, and chuckled weakly. "Ok, then... Now let's see what we got." He tried to open the lid, but couldn't. Cold sweat was already covering his face, worried he couldn't do this now. "A little help, please?" He asked. Senza and Gonzo helped along, while Link tried using his sword to pry it open. After some teamwork, the lid finally gave in, and the contents of the treasure chest were revealed for the first time in who knows how long.

"So, Senza?" Gonzo asked. "Is the prize good enough to warrant the weight?"

"Oh, yeah!" Senza added, with a large smile and shining eyes that could rival the treasure's shine.

Rupees, gold, gems, rings, diamonds... the works! The chest was filled to the brim with enough treasure for one person to live the easy life for a good while. "Perfect." Tetra said. "This is more than enough to get the ship fixed." She took a handful of treasure and looked at it closer to appreciate its beauty. "Oh, ho, ho! It's times like these when I _really_ feel alive!"

"Hey, what's this?" Nudge looked at something rather interesting stowed in the side of the chest, and pulled it out. "Hmm... It's a book."

Tetra promptly kicked Nudge in the leg, making him drop the book. "It's nothing, that's what it is." She turned over to the other pirates, ignoring Nudge's cries of pain. "Seriously, guys, I'm done with this place. Let's go back to the ship. Now, since Link and I took out that nuisance..." she said pointing at the Mole's corpse again, ensuing much nausea, "... Then it's only fair that you guys take the chest back to the ship. So get going."

Upon quiet begrudging due to the chest's sheer weight, Gonzo, Senza and Nudge started carrying the chest out of the sandy room. "I am not looking forward to how we're gonna move through the snake pit lugging this around." Senza commented.

Tetra overlooked at them, and decided to just forget their comments on how heavy it was and how they'd expect to get a good share out of this. Overall, they've earned it, after all. Before she left the room herself, though, she stumbled upon the book that Nudge was looking at. Tetra picked up the book, dusting it off, and looked at the cover.

What the cover showed shocked and terrified her.

On the cover, there was an image of a bird with wings outstretched, looking like it was protecting three triangles stacked one atop the other two. This was, without a doubt, the crest of the Ancient Royal Family of Hyrule. But why would she find something like this, especially down in this forgotten cave? Many questions riddled her mind, and the answers escaped her.

* * *

Back on the ship, Tetra retired to her chambers and gave strict orders to not touch the treasure until she divides the shares, and to not interrupt her for the remainder of the day. Having finished everything in that isolated island, the pirate crew released the sails and cast off to the seas.

"Well, today was quite strange." Senza began.

"Did all... go well...?" Zuko asked the guys that went in.

"Well, Miss Tetra really worked us good down there." Nudge said. "But in the end, we got the treasure, and that's what matters."

"Hey." Gonzo entered the conversation. "You know, guys, I can't shake the feeling we forgot something. Something... inportant..."

-back at the cave-

"... And you only give me the scraps of the shares... and... and your underwear gets really nasty sometimes, and I'm not supposed to complain about it..." Niko kept whining, all alone inside the cave, unaware that he had been long left alone...

"... And... and Mako's food tastes really bad... and Gonzo once took my pillow to use it for a punching bag, and I only got a few feathers back... and I always have to stand watch while you guys go party... and... and... and..."

"... Guys?"

**To Be Continued**


	2. Calling of the Goddesses

Time for the cliché REVIEW-ANSWERIN' TIME! (Story down below)

Ri2: By the time I had seriously considered writing the boss names a la Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask, I had already written "Giant Mole" about 7 times in different points, and I was just too lazy to go around a change it to any other names. (Also, I had no other names for it. Sorry for my lack of creativity in names.)

AnimeMaster24: Poorly written? POORLY WRITTEN!? ... Yeah, sometimes I have a hard time grasping the nuances of the English language (it's not my main language, you see, and sometimes thoughts don't come out as I want them to), but I'll try to make a better effort, starting here. Thank you for your kind and sincere words.

shadows-of-ballance: Thank you, and here's more.

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 2:

Calling of the Goddesses

"Princess..."

"Who's there?" Tetra demanded to know who was calling. "Show yourself!"

"Princess... Awake..."

"What do you want?" Tetra shouted at whomever was talking from the other side of the thick fog.

"Princess... the time is now... awake now..."

"No! There's no princess here!" Tetra kept shouting, trying to make whoever it was understand. "My name is Tetra, Captain of the Pirates of the Great Sea!"

"No... Not pirate... Princess.."

"No! Stop it!" Tetra started to run away from the voice... only, she didn't know where she was going. "I'm not any princess of any kind! I'm a pirate! PI – RATE!" She made a mad dash through the woods trying to dissipate the voices constantly crowding her mind and getting under her skin. But no matter how much she ran or screamed into the sky, the voices would not diminish or disappear.

"Princess..."

"awake now..."

"It is time..."

"Be awakened..."

"Please... Princess Zelda..."

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

_*Twonk!*_

"Ow..."

Tetra rubbed her forehead after she fell from her bed. It was just a dream. Just... another dream. Another one of those dreams she's been having for a good while now. These dreams have been haunting her, making her feel extremely unpleasant, and she can admit she's transferred some of those feelings over to her crew. If she could make those dreams stop, she would have done it a long time ago, her demeanor depends on it.

She stood up from the floor. The first thing she saw was that book. The book with the Hyrulean Crest they found back at that cave they were just that afternoon. She seriously considered plunging that accursed book to the depths of the pit that once wanted to claim her, but eventually decided to keep it, thinking it could fetch a good price from some historian out there. The book remained in her table, yet unopened, but seemingly desiring to be opened and explored. Tetra walked over to the book, looking over at it inquisitively, her arm slowly raising and reaching over to where the book rested in that table. Suddenly, she stopped. 'What am I doing' she thought to herself. 'Getting involved in this matter is the last thing I want to do.' Tetra retired her hand and started walking away from the book in front of her.

"I must be going crazy." Tetra muttered. "Having such weird feelings... over a book? The stars must definitely be aligned against me." She shook her head in disbelief, and simply climbed back to bed. She tossed and turned about, but could not sleep a wink, thus she sat in her bed. Again, the book sat straight across the room from her, almost as if it was taunting her to open it and know what was in there. To know... what she already knew all too well.

She couldn't stand it. If she had to look at that book for any more time, she was bound to break something, and it would not be pretty. Thus, Tetra stood up, she put on her sandals, and left her chambers, heading to the door leading out to the ship's top deck.

It was a star-filled night. The white and blue and yellow lights blinked and danced all around the dark skies, reflecting their performances over to the clear and calm seas. The light breeze tugged the pirate ship slowly and gently through the darkened blue sea, cradling it as if it were a newborn child. Amidst this idyllic scenario, Tetra walked across the deck of the ship, slowly making her way to the bow (that's the front of the ship, for those not up to snuff on ship-talk). Suddenly, the door leading inside the ship slammed shut rather loudly, leaving Tetra very distraught and anxious. She stood quiet, listening if there was any commotion. Only the muted sound of the small waves being made by the ship's slow cradle broke the thick silence in the air. Upon confirming no one had woken up from the noise, Tetra sighed in relief. What she didn't take into consideration, though, was that there was a guy in watch on the crow's nest that night. That guy was Link.

That evening, Link was chosen as the night watch on the Crow's Nest. However, sleep got the better of him, and at the time, he was huddled up in a corner, asleep... until a sudden noise startled him out of his sleep. Startled, he fumbled with his telescope, trying to find the source of the noise. North... south... east... west... nothing. Then he thought about looking straight down to the deck, and found a rough yellowish patch like he's never seen before. That... thing was moving about the deck, apparently looking for something. Link was a bit scared, but was already getting ready to do battle with the intruding hairball... when he noticed he was still using his telescope to look. Setting his telescope away, Link looked down once again, and saw that yellowish moving hairball was nothing more than Tetra walking on deck at night. Thinking nothing of it, Link decided to not disturb her night walk, but still kept on watching... just in case, of course.

"What am I doing?" Tetra said to herself. "This... this isn't me. I've always been sure of who I am, and now... I'm not even sure of my own shadow. All I've known was the way of the pirate. That's the world I've been in ever since I was born. I've never done well being shoehorned into something else." Heading out to the bow, she looks around. Noticing no one, she sighs rather pitifully. "Now I'm talking into thin air. I guess I'm truly going crazy. I mean, being afraid of a mere book, haunting dreams... what's next? When does the sky start falling?"

Suddenly, the light breeze dies out, making the ship stop in the middle of the sea. The stars in the skies seem to have created a perfect circle right on top of the ship, with not a single flashing light inside the circle. The eerie silence that suddenly enveloped the ship was producing an incredible amount of tension upon the young lass on deck. Suddenly, the darkness of the night was broken by an impressive column of light, arriving from the partition in the skies to rest to the seas right in front of the ship. Then, from the column of light, three colored figures descended like a couple of meteors, crashing down to the sea and making large waves that rocked the boat fiercely. Out of the sea, a tall woman with long fire-red hair and tight clothing appeared. The woman dancingly descended about until she touched down on the ship's bow.

"I... am Din, Goddess of Power" The woman identified herself to Tetra. "I am One of the three Goddesses who created the ancient land of Hyrule."

Then, another woman raised out from the waters, She had beautiful long blue locks and had a matching elegantly blue dress. This woman floated and stood to the right of Din. "And I am Nayru, Goddess of wisdom."

Afterwards, yet another woman came out of the seas, and floated down to the left of Din. She wore a elegant yet whimsical green dress with a hoop skirt, and had her green hair made up into two buns. "And I'm Farore. I'm the Oracle of Secrets..." The other two women quickly looked at her rather sternly. "And... also the Goddess of Courage, I guess."

Tetra simply looked at the spectacle with glazed over eyes and a rather perturbed smile on her face. "It's official." She said. "Next thing you know, the seas will be crimson red and everybody will turn into yellow liquids. Ha ha!"

"Ew! Gross! We don't do that." Farore commented on Tetra's near-lunatic ravings. "I mean... we _are_ capable of doing it, but we have to hold up our work ethic, and..."

Din quickly nudged Farore with her elbow to keep her from talking. "Anyway, we three have come down here for you, Princess Zelda."

Upon hearing this, Tetra quickly snapped back into reality. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait... What? Princess? There's no prin... I'M not any sort of princess!"

"Princess..." Nayru spoke softly, but rather convincingly. "Please reconsider your position. There once was a time where you could roam the land in hiding, going by another name... but that time is past. There is now a pressing need to return the great land of Hyrule to its former glory."

"... Yeah, nice try." Tetra retorted. "First, when was I ever in hiding?" She thought a moment about that last statement. "... Don't answer that. Anyway, second, return Hyrule to its former glory? Last time I saw Hyrule, it was being crushed by tons of water pressure, to be lost forever at the bottom of the sea. And for the hundredth time, I'm not Zelda. My name is Tetra, scourge of the seas, captain of the Great Sea Pirates, and collector of bottle boats!"

The three Goddesses stared blankly at Tetra for her poorly thought out outburst.

"... I shouldn't have said that. I should _not_ have said that." Tetra kicked herself after catching what she just said.

"Hey, you can still collect your little ships inside bottles as a princess." Farore intervened. "But right now, we've use of your powers. The powers only those of a royal lineage can have."

"We know you have come across a certain book." Din explains. "If you haven't looked inside, that book contains vital information about your predecessors, about ancient Hyrule, and how you can come to understand your abilities within you, among other things."

"How do you know all of this?" Tetra questioned the Goddesses' knowledge of the book Tetra found.

"I suggest you do not try and test us, Princess." Nayru suggested, her voice sounding progressively less soothing. "That book is merely a tool to assist you in your journey. A journey that will decide the fate of the world."

"Wait, wait... Isn't that kinda cliché?" Farore interrupted. "I mean, we're basically leaving the fate of the world into the hands of what really amounts to a teenager. Is it really that fair?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Tetra was quick to latch on the supporting words of the green-tinted goddess. "What she said!"

"... You make sense, Farore. It would be too great a burden to carry for just one person." Nayru agreed with her companion. "So let's see... who could be a perfect companion for your highness?"

The Goddesses thought about the concept for a short while. Then, Din looked up to the Crow's Nest, where Link was still ever vigilant to what was happening ever since he woke up.

"Link!" Din called the young green clad boy.

"Link?" Tetra wondered. She then turned around and looked up the Crow's Nest, just to see Link, plastered with a similar dumbfounded look she had on her face.

"Please, Link, come on down. We shall not harm you." Nayru prompted for the boy to climb down the mast. Link, a tad confused from the conversation, climbed down the ladder, then joined Tetra by her side.

"Link... Princess..." Din began, "Heed our words now, the words for the Great Goddesses, the creators of the land of Hyrule and protectors of the Law of Life. The time has arrived for the rebirth of Hyrule."

Nayru picked up where Din left off. "This is a most trying time. Some are wishing to oppose the will of the gods, and in their attempts, they have gained influence and social standing. They are wolves in sheep disguises."

Farore took her turn in speaking. "We believe there is still hope if a new Hyrule is built on this land. We have little time to act, however. Hyrule can only be reborn with a true heir of the Royal Family. You, Princess Zelda, are the last remaining heir of the Royal Family. Also, only you can wield the long forgotten power that only those of Royal lineage possess."

Tetra thought about all that she has been told, but couldn't make sense of it. "Hyrule's rebirth? Wolves and sheep? Royal lineage? I don't get any of it! And not only am I lost... as far as I'm concerned, all of this, this "Hyrule revival" stuff, it's none of my concern!" With those words borne from a raised tone, Tetra stormed off, heading back inside the ship.

Suddenly, a tall wall of fire formed on the ship, blocking Tetra's way inside. Tetra was absolutely terrified at the spectacle. The fire danced furiously in front of the terrified spectators, lashing out at anything that even dared to come close to it. Link and Tetra looked over to the Goddesses, whose faces have transformed from their usual calm demeanor to a visibly more angered form. Their eyes were glowing a pure white, and their hair was intensely fluttering in the air, transformed into flames of their respective colors.

"Do _NOT_ test us, Princess Zelda." Din restated.

"But... but..."

"You _ARE_ Princess Zelda!" Nayru proclaimed.

"You _ARE_ the heir of the Royal Family!" Farore proclaimed, too.

"You _MUST_ follow the will of the gods!" Din demanded. "Should you choose to keep denying your heritage like you have done this past year, the only guarantee we can give to you right here and now is that every thing that you know as you know them shall cease to exist. And that includes your current state of affairs."

Tetra looked away from the Goddesses, yet she would not walk one step in either direction. Her thoughts were flooded with all that had happened to her in the past weeks. First the incessant dreams, which started out as harmless as seeing herself sitting on a throne, and devolved into haunting dreams. Then, the discovery of the treasure, which brought with it the book of the Hylian Royal Family's History, and upon further analyzing, she considers this event to be no coincidence. And then there's this: a personal visit by none other than the Three Goddesses of legend, explaining her what was going to happen and what she had to do.

And in the back of her head, the voice of her conscience started to speak to her:

"_You can run away anymore. You just can't."_

"I understand." Tetra said, still with her back turned to the Goddesses. "I understand what will happen if I don't comply, and if I decide to walk away from this 'destiny' thing. Thank you for informing me of the risks."

The Goddesses' faces were transforming into looks that ranged from worry to beginnings of anger. Considering that their efforts were about to go to waste was no small matter. Link shared those sentiments, and decided to walk over to Tetra to try and appeal to her. He put his hand on her shoulder to try and gain her attention. Tetra simply looked at Link. "Don't patronize me, Link." Tetra said. "I don't need your eloquent speeches to convince me of anything. I said 'I understand what will happen', nothing more."

Tetra then turned over to the Goddesses and, with a serious look sporting none of the defiant stares she once pulled on them, and directed her attention to them. "I'll do it. I'm still not entirely sure of it all, but one thing's for certain..." She takes one good, long look at her ship, with all the dents, marks, and even Link... "... I don't want any of this to just end and be forgotten, just like that. So if I can do anything to prevent it, then it's just a small sacrifice to make."

Link sighed in relief (after all, it's not every day you get to have a taste of a deity's wrath), while the Goddesses looked visibly pleased. "Good" Din said, a smile set on her face. "In that case, you will need this."

The three Goddesses outstretched her arms to the skies, and in their point of convergence, a glowing object formed. This object slowly descended into Tetra's hands. When the light dissipated, a golden cylindrical object remained, one of their flat sides was crystal clear, and inside was a silverish needle wobbling about.

"This is the Compass of the Goddesses." Nayru explained. "It shall point you to your true destination. Keep a good eye on its instructions, and you shall never become lost in your journey."

"So, this compass will get me to the promised land?" Tetra asked ever so bluntly.

"In a way, yes." Farore answered in the same blunt manner. "Keep a good eye on it, though. They're very expensive to make. _*wink*_"

Nayru then looked straight at Tetra and imparted her last instructions. "Princess, follow the Compass. It will guide you to your destination, where you must fulfill your duty. You mustn't fail. And I hope you learn more about what this journey means as you go through it." She then looked straight at Link. "Link, please protect the Princess with your sword and your shield. Do not let her bear this burden alone. Accompany her through thick and thin, become her support, and help her build the new Hyrule."

Link nodded his head in understanding. Having done this kind of stuff before, he needed little pushing to accept this quest. However, the terms were different this time, for he was not going to be alone this time. Sure, he's had companions before -the bird girl and the Goron kid for example-, but never before having someone constantly at his side, fighting with him, helping him through it all. Now, he shall have the opportunity to fully see this as he joins Tetra on this journey they were about to undertake. He looks over at Tetra, and he can't help but admire her. She's launching headlong into this, without fully understanding what she's getting herself into. She will be trusting Link for when the tough times come , and he is ready to show his trustworthiness. He admired her... which is why he couldn't help but smile.

Then, Tetra looked over to Link, and he suddenly stopped looking over at Tetra and began staring at his feet as he fumbled with them. Besides thinking it a tad weird, she gave no further importance to that. Meanwhile, the Goddesses kept an awkward silence... perhaps watching the small scenario unfold in front of them.

"Ahem..." Nayru cleared her throat to break the awkward silence. "Now that things have been settled, it is time for us to take our leave."

"We shall give you our blessing." Farore said as she clasped her hands together, making glittery green powder appear around them. Din and Nayru followed her example, making glittery powder of their respective colors, then the three blew in unison toward the pair in front of them. "May you have a safe and successful journey."

"Remember, Princess," Din began her final speech. "You have the Blood of the Hylia flowing withing you. It is up to you to discover and understand what light does it hold. Believe in yourself, and believe in your companion, and you will succeed."

And, right in front of Link and Tetra, the Three Goddesses' bodies turned a golden hue as they floated up from their precarious perch on the ship's border. Then, they were covered with flames: Din in red, Farore in green, Nayru in blue. Then, just as they arrived, they shot like a meteor straight up to the skies, leaving a spectacular trail behind.

Tetra and Link stood awestruck, staring up as the glow of the Goddesses dimmed away, the great column of light thinned out to nothingness, and the perfect star circle started getting filled with stars inside, as if there was no circle in the first place. And, though they didn't notice, the soft breeze that was pushing the ship up until a short while ago began its gentle draft again.

"That was the most amazing and the most terrifying experience of my whole life, by far." Tetra whispered as she slowly dropped her gaze from the sky. She then looked over at Link, at the guy she had just become stuck to for the remainder of this journey. Oh, she knew this guy all too well: childish, sleepy-headed, a bit lazy despite getting all gung-ho for adventures, careless, a total fashion failure... and dependable. She could not deny how he's helped got her out of tight spots at least 5 times now. If there was any person inside that ship (or anywhere else, for that matter) she would team up for this kind of mission, Link ranks right up there as one of the top choices. Finding that book was no coincidence, and perhaps having Link as companion wasn't one, either. All these things crossed her mind, and she understood, at least, what this meant. If anything, he was dependable... and she couldn't help but smile at it.

Then Link turned his attention at Tetra, to which she quick;y shot her gaze back up to the skies. "_*ahem*_ Well..." Tetra cleared her throat to begin talking. "If anything, this means we have at least one last big adventure ahead of us." She then turned to Link, greeting him with her trademark wink. "Let's make the most if it, ok?"

Thus, after a night few would believe had they not seen, Tetra finally headed off to her room, while Link began walking to the stairs that led him up to the Crow's Nest. Before separating, though, Tetra turned over to Link, with a whimsically thoughtful look upon her face. "You know what's funny?" She said. "They told us to fulfill this destiny of creating a new Hyrule and all..." Then, her thoughtful face slowly turned into a rather sly one. "But they never specified 'how' we'd go about doing that." She finally swung right back to the door, and signaled Link goodbye before disappearing on the other side.

As he stood on top of the Crow's Nest, Link looked at the horizon. That was a horizon he's seen a lot in his life. When he was a small child, he used to wish to visit the horizon to see what unknown secrets were hidden, waiting for a lucky adventurer to go and unearth them. Now, even after nearly two years of roaming the high seas, mostly as part of Tetra's Pirate crew, such a feeling has not diminished. Now, the horizon was waiting for him once again, and he would answer the call and unearth the secrets hidden within.

_*YYYAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN*_

... But first, a well earned good night's sleep awaits.

**To Be Continued**


	3. That's a Big Island

Why do I get so squeamish during REVIEW-ANSWERIN' TIME!:

linkin-link: Even though your comment is of chapter one, Let me talk here. I'm glad you enjoyed the humor. I try to sprinkle it on the story every now and then, even though it won't be the main focus.

Ri2: If you didn't expect the goddesses, then I'm pretty sure you won't expect this chapter's special guest: JINJO! (not really!)

?: I made a point to keep Link a mute, and I'm going to keep it. (Maybe that's the reason Tetra's stepping over as the main character, even though my original vision called for both of them sharing main duties.)

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 3

That's a Big Island

"BLECK!"

It was almost a symphony of disgusted mouths. The hues of green left of everybody's faces lighted up the dim room so bizarrely, it was almost sickening. Water ran wild, with supplies running dangerously short. Some even resorted to licking the dirty, moldy wood that made their walls and floors in hopes of taking away the horrible taste from their mouths. Heads ached, eyes teared up, bodies shook, fingers twitched... and it was nothing to be surprised about...

After all, Niko made the lunch.

"Guh... What the heck did you do to this food, Niko?" Gonzo demanded.

"What?" Niko questioned, in clear defense of his culinary skills. "I did what was written on the cookbook. I seasoned the fish, I used low flame, I washed the veggies with water..."

Then, something in Senza's head lit up. "W... which water?" he questioned, teeth clenched.

"Eh..." Niko started darting his eyes, especially when the rest of the crew began looking at him with cold, piercing looks. "Well, I know how we need to ration supplies... and I... I just... picked up a bucket and... got some... sea water?"

The groans induced by the "unfortunate" news were loud enough to shake any birds off the ship in fear. The mere thought of eating food washed in seawater with Din-only-knows what else snuck in there was enough to send a few running starboard to puke it out. Tetra tried her best to speak in the matter, but no matter how much she tried, or how much she posed when trying, the words would just not come out. She just simply slapped herself on the forehead... and snapped her fingers.

Niko panicked. He's been here quite a few times already. He could even describe the steps that happened in detail. First, the three toughest members of the crew got up from their chairs and began their slow and menacing walk towards him. Second, Gonzo asked him a question, the same one every time. Niko even mouthed it:

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Third, Niko's 'plea bargain'... though he knew too well how that worked. "If I said anything, would it really matter?"

"Hmm... Most likely not." Gonzo answered.

Niko sighed. He chose to remain silent, not having anything of worth to change the outcome, he surrendered to part four, which was...

...

"You know this isn't very healthy, right?" Niko protested.

"Oh, come on, swabbie. A little fresh air never hurt anybody." Gonzo rebutted.

"I'm not talking about the air... not even about tying me up from head to toe... though it is a tad snug." Niko explained while he moved around his uncomfortable bindings. "I'm talking about being upside... DDDOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!"

Without previous warning, Niko was thrown out to hang upside down from the ship's mast. The poor kid swung wildly for a few good minutes before inertia made full effect and slowing down to the usual swivel of the ship. Niko took this time of punishment to do some honest-to-goodness thinking about his position in life.

"Well... here I am. Niko, the pirate. Just like I always wanted. Or rather... the swabbie. Incredible how I'm still just a swabbie, even after two people joined the crew after me. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this type of business. I mean, I'm not mean enough, people tend to trample me without so much as a second thought, I had to make my hammock out of half of my old clothes, and I'm not usually invited to important meetings. I feel like I'm just here for comic fodder. I can't even cook a decent meal! Why can't I just do something important, for once?" He shook himself violently on his frustration, resulting in a bump on his head to the ship's mast. "Ow! And now I can't even rub my aching head! I'm so sad right now." Giving up on his futile tantrum, he let the gentle swivel of the ship calm him down. "You know? This isn't so bad after all. At least no one's giving me anything to deal with, no nasty jobs, no pushing around, no noise except for the random seagull... just me and the breeze of the ocean. This is the kind of stuff a man of the sea loves above all. Hmm... Interesting... From my perspective, it looks like the sea is on the sky. This is almost taken out of some fantasy story. Hmm... Nah! What kind of insipid, backward-thinking person would think up of a world where the sea is high above land? Just ridiculous!"

... Meanwhile, on Tetra's Quarters...

"First order of business, gentlemen." Tetra announced as she sat on the head of the table set up for reunions. "The good news: Here is your share of the treasure found yesterday. I think you'll find it to be quite just." She then passed on bags which contained roughly the same amount of treasure inside to everybody in the reunion.

Overjoyed, the pirates did not wait to open the bags and check their contents. Some, however, were a bit let down with the contents of the bag. "Miss Tetra, I don't think something is right here." Nudge commented. "Now, don't get me wrong. This is nice... but I was under the impression that we had more treasure than what's here right now."

"You suppose right, Nudge." Tetra answered frankly. "However, if you remember what I said yesterday, I intend to use the treasure to fix the ship. If you haven't noticed..." She motioned around her room, showing that even her private quarters were not immune to broken slabs of wood, holes in the ceiling, and overall uncleanliness. "... This ship is long overdue for an overhaul, so we must all overturn half of our overtures to make sure we don't get overblown and go under. If there's any sort of remainder from the repairs, then we'll split what's left." Her blunt sincerity was noticed by the crew, who nodded in understanding, and plainly took their share with no further objection.

"Now that that's done, I have something else to say to you." Tetra then got up and brought up something enveloped in a cloth, alongside the book with the Royal Family crest. "We already have our next heading. Combining the information found in this book, and what's on this object I just received a short while ago, I have found something of great value. Therefore, we have to turn southeast."

"Interesting." Senza admitted. "Then what?"

"Well, we're supposed to keep moving like that until we reach land." Tetra further explained.

"Good, good." Gonzo said. "And then?"

"Then..." Tetra continued, somewhat hesitantly. "We should follow the directions we have... and..."

"And? And?" Nudge pushed on. "Come on, don't leave us hanging."

"Well..." Tetra really didn't want to say what was going on here, but she needed them to make this work. "That's on a need-to-know basis." She explained, leaving the other crew members wondering and muttering. "Hey, what's all that mutterin' about? You have a problem, speak it up right now."

The pirates looked at each other and started pointing fingers to see who would be the vict... eh... the one who would need to tell their concerns to her. Eventually, it fell in the hands of Mako. "Well... I do not mean any disrespect, Miss Tetra..." He began, fixing his glasses to look better at the scene before him. "But ever since this pirate gang was formed, we always had a motto saying 'no secrets between crew members, including the captain'. However, the information provided to us here by you is sketchy at best, beginning with that concealed item you have in front of you." He said, pointing at the object inside the cloth. "Your sources are unrealistic, as we have no charts of land southeast of our current position, we have no clear indication of what is it we are to find, and most important of all, we need to know now in order to understand the risks and be prepared for any event."

"Well, I... I have my reasons, ok?" Tetra justified her reasoning behind her sketchy explanations.

"I'm sure you do have your reasons for following this bounty, Miss Tetra..." Gonzo reasoned with the young captain. "But that's never stopped you before from fully explaining the plan to us so we can execute it efficiently."

"Well, you see... This time it's a bit different. Just a bit." Tetra kept trying to find justifications.

"Every time it's different..." Zuko interjected. "It it weren't like that... It wouldn't be exciting."

"But... What if I told you that... that I was sworn to secrecy about this?" Tetra said, stuttering at the words.

"No dice, Ma'am." Senza explained. "If it really were such a secret, wouldn't you have just left already all alone to complete this mission? You obviously need us in this, and we have a right to know what we're getting into."

Tetra looked around at the pirates surrounding the table. Not one of them had an angry or annoyed look... they merely looked somewhat worried and curious at what they wanted to know and what she was going to say. She currently had no new ideas to try and convince the crew members to blindly follow her without as much as a question. Bringing the reward first certainly didn't work. Sweetening the deal didn't work. The superiority card definitely didn't work. She figured nothing would work at this point. She looked over at Link, the only other one that knew the whole truth, and the one who she would trust most in keeping secrets, who was huddled in the table right between Gonzo and Senza's massive bodies, but he just shrugged away, perhaps saying that if she ever wanted to keep this a secret, it was not gonna work and she needed to go ahead and tell them. That... or the sweaty odors of Gonzo and Senza were doing quite a number on his consciousness.

Tetra sighed in defeat. She untied the cloth, revealing what was inside: The Compass of the Goddesses (as if you didn't know already what was in there). "Oh, what an interesting compass, that one." Mako instantly commented. "Hmm... why doesn't it have markings for north, south and whatnot?"

"This is a special compass. It doesn't exactly point north, but rather to our next goal." Tetra explains, taking out her personal compass out of her pocket and setting them side-by-side for comparison. "Currently, it's pointing southwest. That's our destination."

"Good, good." Gonzo nodded in understanding. "So, once we find this land, what do we do?"

"With our luck, we'd probably be walking quite a bit." Tetra kept explaining. "We need to continue until the compass goes haywire. That's our indication we're on the right spot."

"And? After we walk to that haywire place..." Nudge drilled further. "What are we supposed to find there?"

"..."

"... Yes?"

"..."

"... Ma'am?"

"... nothing."

"I beg your pardon, Ma'am?" Mako asked. "I don't thing I got that right. Nothing?"

"We're... not supposed to find anything out there." Tetra admitted, dejected.

"Wait..." Senza stopped his boss to try to understand the deal. "If we're not supposed to find anything where we're going, how would we know where to look for the treasure we'll be sear..."

"There's no treasure." Tetra interrupted. "There's no cave, no palace, no treasure, no jewels, no richies, no pillaging or plundering, nothing of the sort at all. We're not supposed to go get anything from there."

"... Ok, I'm lost." Gonzo declared. "If we, a band of pirates, are going someplace where there's nothing for us to get by any means, then why should we even bother?"

"That... is what I was afraid of." Tetra said, almost in a whispering tone. "See, what we... no... what _I_ was sent out to do requires me to find this uncharted stretch of land... and claim it in the name of my... my heritage... whichyouallknowaboutanyway..."

"Hold on for one minute." Gonzo interjected right at that moment. "Let me get this straight. For some strange reason which involves that book and that compass, which I'm pretty sure you didn't have yesterday _and_ the Rito Mailman hasn't come around lately to deliver anything..."He pointed out just as Tetra opened her mouth to try and justify that, leaving her to close her mouth and keep quiet, "...you are now compelled to leave for a land that's most likely deserted to basically build it, which means you'll most likely return to being that 'Princess Zelda' character."

"Yeah, that's about it." Tetra admitted.

"But you hate your Zelda persona." Mako added.

"I know."

"And you're not exactly much of a princess." Nudge commented.

"I know..."

"And doing this bit will probably end your pirate career." Senza said.

"I know!" Tetra yelled, shutting the lot up. She immediately calmed down and continued explaining. "But I have to do this. If I don't, things will be much worse than just not being a pirate anymore. So you see, we wouldn't be doing something for our own benefit this time. And I was afraid that if I told you the whole truth, you wouldn't like it, and probably leave me stranded on this."

The Pirates let silence fill the room as they considered the details of this new mission their boss has been charged with. They looked at Tetra, who, despite speaking rather downtrodden, she never stopped looking at them face to face. Also, they looked at the 'evidence', a book which they have in their power by happenstance, and a large compass of dubious precedence that doesn't point north.

"It wouldn't be the first time." Gonzo blurted out. Tetra looked at him weirdly, but he calmly continued. "This wouldn't be the first time we did something that's not for our personal gain. I thought you knew us better than this, Miss Tetra. We know when to take, and we know when to give... even though we often lean more on the 'take' portion..." he commented that last portion, leading to light laughter across the board. "But anyway, I think I speak for everybody when I say: We are here for you, Miss Tetra, to the end of the world and back."

Tetra looked at them, at their crew, and their determined faces. No matter how much she would try, there was no separating from such loyal, trusting pains in the back... eh... gentlemen. "Thank you." She told them.

"Princess..." Zuko began.

"Don't push it." Tetra interrupted, stopping him cold with an icy glare.

* * *

"So that's the book that's causing such a ruckus." Mako began as he noticed a group huddled near the mast looking over at that book Tetra showed them earlier. "How did you get Miss Tetra to let you check the book?"

"Actually, Miss Tetra asked us to looked on it for her." Senza, the one in charge of the book for now, explained his comrade. He then pointed to the brigde, where Tetra and Gonzo were going over coordinates. "She's looking over us every once in a while, too."

"Oh, in that case, let me see!" Mako suddenly got a surge of interest towards the leather cover book with strange markings all around. Being quite a diminutive character, he easily slithered between two of the guys and managed to get a clear view of the book's contents.

Written on the book's yellowed pages were passages of the Ancient Royal Family of Hyrule, with its rich history being the bulk of the written content. These stories narrated how the Kingdom of Hyrule came to be, how there were great wars between the different races across the land, from the swift fish-men to incredibly strong creatures that were hard as stone, to an exotic culture reigned by women, how these great conflicts were resolved only to come across something greater and more dangerous than any of those combined, how the lineage of the Royal Family pans out, how do these important events link to each other in perfect sync, and how did things ended as of the last writing in the book.

"Man, what people would give to know all this stuff right here." Mako commented.

"What's this...?" Zuko asked, pointing to a certain paragraph within the pages. Immediately, the others gave it some consideration... and discovered a shocking coincidence.

"Hey, Link!" Senza called the young green-clad boy, currently looking out to sea. "This book has something about you." Listening to those words, Link turned around and looked at them, a bit incredulous to that fact. "I'm serious. Check it out!"

Link walked over to the growing group huddled around a book and looked at the particular piece of evidence the others saw too. "Did you read that?" Nudge began pressing. "It totally describes you. It's talking about a lineage of knights of Hyrule that wore green tunics and matching cap. It says that when times looked grim, these knights came from out of frickin' nowhere and set things right, almost always leaving as they came." Link read the passage over and over, sometimes looking at himself and his obviously overused tunic. This tunic was presented to him by his grandmother when he turned 12, to honor the great hero of legend. He's never thought of himself as a descendant of the Legendary Hero, although after further thought, he remembers a time where he got what could be the closest thing from a confirmation about his lineage:

"_Surely, you are the Hero of Time, reborn..."_

These words alone echoed through his mind, leaving doubt enough to consider whether he could be a descendant of this Legendary Hero, and of this Lineage of Knights. And if he really was the Hero's descendant, then he was inextricably connected to Tera, herself being descendant of the Hyrulean Royal Lineage, even more than he initially thought.

"So, is there something more in there?" Mako asked, very interested in the book's contents.

Senza skimmed over the book, looking to find something interesting. "Let's see... There were seven sages who sealed... A giant, evil faced moon was set to... There was a great and terrible rift between the world and a 'twilight' dimension... Well, look at this, there's a name for people with long ears like Link and Miss Tetra... Hee-ly-ans." He struggled with that last word.

"What?" Nudge looked at Senza like an atrocity just happened. "Give me that!" He promptly grabbed the book to search the word and fix this pronunciation crime. He finally found the word in question: HYLIAN. "Oh... I see. It's Hee-lian." He confirmed, giving some correction.

Mako took a peek at the book again to see what all the fuzz was about. "Hmm... actually, I think it's pronounced: High-lee-an."

"Wait, what?" Senza was feeling confused over all this pronouncing business. "Are you sure of that, Mako? It sure looks like it's said Hee-lian."

"Think..." Zuko interjected. "Hyrule begins with 'Hy'... said like 'hi, how are you'... or 'look up high'... so Hylian is basically the same..."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about." Mako said, backing Zuko up. "It's most definitely High-lee-an."

"You know..." Niko said, still hanging way up top in the mast. "I don't care much for the pronunciation, but if you haven't noticed, we also have long pointy ears. Doesn't that make us hi-something or the other too?"

"I'm not sure..." Senza stroke his beard while going over what was presented to him. "Hee-lian seems to roll off the tongue far easier." he said, ignoring Niko's rare stroke of intelligence.

"You know what I think?" Nudge nudged Senza and spoke to him directly. "I think these two are just trying to find a more convoluted way of looking into things to seem superior."

"Yeah..." Senza figured as well. "Why else would you want to just go and contradict us like that?"

"I'm not contradicting anything." Mako was quick to defend himself. "I merely made a logical conclusion based on what we already know. If anything, you are the ones spewing the first thing that comes to your mind because you choose to deny the evidence."

"Guh... Why you little four eyed..." Nudge's temper started to well up, having considered that an insult. He got up and walked over to Mako, attempting to showcase his large build as a means of intimidation. "Are you insinuating we are ignorant or something?"

"I'm not insinuating anything." Mako explained, taking off his glasses to clean it from Nudge's spit. "I merely implied you overlooked a point, and instead of recognizing your mistake, you simply vent off against those who correct you."

"And if _you're_ wrong?" Senza implied. "Can you be certain you are truly right."

"Then, how do we resolve this problem?" Mako asked.

"Ask Link..." Zuko suggested, while pointing over at the boy in green off on the side, out of their circle. The four who were amidships suddenly turned their gaze over at Link, which made him extremely uncomfortable. "Link... here..." Zuko called him, which did nothing to boost Link's confidence. He inched over to them carefully, as one didn't know what exactly could happen.

Senza showed Link the book and its contents, pointing directly at the word HYLIAN and asking: "How do you think this word is pronounced?"

"You see, we have two theories." Mako explained further. "Zuko and myself think it's High-lee-an, while Senza and Nudge insist it's Hee-lian."

"So? So?" Nudge got on Link's face, complete with a hopeful look. "It's Hee-lian, right?"

"High-lee-an..." Zuko defended his position... in his own way.

"Give the guy some space! Man!" Niko shouted from above, noticing the crowd closing in on Link.

Link was swamped. He didn't know what to do. Some were telling him something, some were telling him another... he could barely think for himself, let alone fully understand what they were talking about. He couldn't take it anymore, so he decided to do something to finish this very quickly. He closed his eyes and pointed somewhere at random. He didn't care where, he just hoped this would end the incessant shouting in his ear.

"What?" Nudge shouted in shock.

"Ha! I knew I was right." Mako said, rather smug at that.

"So..." Tetra surprised the lot as she hopped off the bridge to where the guys were. "Did you figure something out yet?"

"Well..." Senza scratched the back of his neck, trying to explain. "We seem to have figured out the pronunciation of a word..."

Tetra facepalmed.

"Why do I even bother? Why did I think it was a good idea to let you check the book and see if there's anything you could figure out, only to find myself with... this? Give me that!" Tetra demanded while taking the book out from Senza's hands. "From now on, I shall handle this book, and We'll discuss it together. Now, if you'll excuse... huh?"

Tetra was stopped when she saw an abnormal amount of white and gray feathers flutter down to the deck. She looked up, only to see a couple of seagull flocks flying near the ship. Even then, this many feathers falling down was abnormal unless a couple of them were molting just on top of her.

"MMMMMPPHHHHHHD HHHPPPPPPPPHHHHH!!!!!" A screechy loud, yet muffled sound came from above the pirates' general position. Looking up, they only say the sky, the seagulls... and Niko, who was still hanging upside-down on the mast, swerving left and right like a madman.

"Hey, Gonzo." Tetra called him over to where she was. "Did you muffled Niko's mouth by any chance?"

"No, Ma'am. I just gave him the usual." Gonzo explained.

"And he was shouting just fine just a few minutes ago." Mako added.

"So..." Tetra wondered, looking at Niko rocking back and forth, trying to yell something out. "Why does he sound like he has a banana down his... **WHOA!**"

Suddenly, the entire ship shook wildly, making everybody lose their balance. The ship tilted in all directions during the tremor, tossing barrels around, throwing cannons away, and breaking boxes filled with goods. Everybody tilted and tumbled about, trying their hardest to avoid being thrown overboard by the intense quake. Niko got swung around so hard that the cord tat hung him up got tangled on the mast, making his swinging shorter and shorter, until the cord finally gave in and snapped, shooting him upward and outward. His buck-toothed self found himself face to face with the seagulls, who screeched at him and his awkwardly large cheeks, some even tried to peck at him to try and get him out of the way. Sadly, he was tied up and could not flap to save his life when gravity kicked in, and he began to plunge down like a rock.

Down on the ship, the rocking and rolling had finally ceased. Most of the pirates were nauseous, but otherwise survived the ordeal. Mako was out looking for his glasses because, apparently, he couldn't see without his glasses, while Zuko was trying to take off his telescope that got stuck right across his sleeves, making him look like some odd scarecrow, and the three big guys were hanging out on starboard, wondering if they'd lose what little lunch they were able to keep down from before. Meanwhile, Tetra laid flat on the ground, dazed and confused thanks to a bump on her head, but otherwise unharmed, and Link also was laid flat... right on top of Tetra.

Tetra, still in her daze, reached up to Link, and started passing her hand through his golden locks, whispering some incoherent hard to understand things...

...

"_You... You're here at last."_

...

"_You've kept me waiting for so long."_

...

"_Now, we're finally... we're finally..."_

...

When Tetra's vision cleared, he noticed Link was right on top of her, causing her to panic. "Aaah! Get off me!" She yelled as she kicked the poor boy to the side. No sooner that she took Link off her, a giant cocoon-like object was hurdling straight at her. With a scream, she rolled to avoid the debris.

The Niko-cocoon fell right on the ship, leaving a dent on the top deck. Suddenly, his abnormally large cheeks gave in, releasing a couple of halfway-featherless seagulls inside his mouth. Niko coughed feathers a few good times until he was capable enough to speak. "I was trying to say 'land ho'!" He looked over to the side, only to find himself with a rather curious scene. "M... Miss Tetra?"

Unbeknownst to Tetra, when she moved out of Niko's way, she actually rolled right to where she had thrown Link, and her survival instincts were far greater than anything else at the moment so she didn't notice she was actually hugging Link. "Ah... Eh... W... Would you give me some space, already!?" She stuttered to say, pushing him off further while she tried to sit up. No matter how much she tried to cover her face with her hand and look all tough now, though, her well-tanned face started turning as red as her own scarf. She was basically _so_ close to Link, she could feel his breath blowing right on her ear. But... she's found herself really close to Link before at times where it was necessary and it's been as if nothing... so why is she blushing so much now? And why must her own breathing be so...

"Wait a minute..." Suddenly, her thought process gave way to a piece of information she almost ignored not long ago. "What did you just said?" She inquired Niko.

"Well... I... Just so you know, I don't mind whatever happens with you and Link, but I was just..."

"NO! Not that!!!" Tetra yelled out loud, trying to block out a faint trace of red from her cheeks with it. "I meant before that!"

"Oh, that. Yeah... Land ho." Niko explained casually. "I tried to say it, but these seagulls just flew right to my face, and before I knew it, I was having dinner for two, and the menu was raw bird. Funny, because this reminds me of something that happened to me shortly before I joined..."

Tetra stood up and started walking portside, followed by everybody else who could walk. What they saw was, admittedly, a scene they have seen a thousand times, but every time they see it, it fills them with glee: land... solid land they could set their feet on without fear of sinking down. The beach was absolutely inviting, golden yellow sand flowed freely thanks to the breeze, with the occasional palm tree to adorn it; the small waves of the sea crashing down on the beach's border provided a calming and refreshing sound to the tired ears of the crew, looking ever so pristine with its vibrant shades of blue, green and white. A bit after the seas, the beach-side trees thickened and turned the scenery a deeper green with darker lighting. The gang looked to both sides of the ship, in hopes to find where would the beach curve in, like every small island does... yet finding only how the beach touched the sky at the horizon in both ends, almost never swerving inward or outward either way. "That's a big island." Gonzo expressed in amazement.

"Senza. Mako." Tetra started calling out her henchmen.

"Yes, Ma'am." both guys said in unison.

"Inspect the hull for any damages. Anything of particular notice should be reported to me. Now go." Sending them off, he called out other guys. "Nudge, Zuko, Gonzo."

"Yes, Ma'am." The three rushed over to receive her orders.

"Go to the hold, and bring out supplies we may need, and don't forget the food this time, ok?"

We won't, Ma'am." The pirates said with a bit less energy, possibly hurt by the reminder of that last time they went on a 3-day treasure hunt without any food, which shan't be spoken of ever again.

"Link." Tetra blurted out. Link jumped basically out of nowhere and startled the young captain, who took a few steps back in shock. "Just... untie him." She said, kinda downtrodden, and pointing over at Niko. Link quickly nodded, and with his usually smiling demeanor, set out to untie the poor chastised pirate.

Tetra suddenly remembered the Compass. She took it out, and set it as steady as she could. The Compass then pointed out to a determined spot within the thick trees in the beach. She inspected the suspicious-looking area with her telescope, and found a large enough entrance between a set of trees. This will most likely be their door to the mainland. She went to her private cabin and retrieved a set of charts, maps, and other stuff, as well as any weaponry she thought would help her to inspect the island. After noticing that Link had finished untying Niko, she prompted him to equip himself as well.

"Ok, gentlemen. Bring me the news." Tetra said.

"No substantial damages to the hull, Miss Tetra." Mako explained the results of his group's inspection. "the few minor damages were already fixed."

"All supplies have been retrieved and are ready to roll, Miss Tetra." Gonzo informed her of his group's duty.

"Untied and ready for action, Miss Tetra." Niko announced.

"Then we're ready to go." Tetra announced and was about to jump off the ship... when she remembered something important. "Wait... we're all going on this trip, so no one will stay to keep watch of our ship... Guys, bring out our "special friends". They'll watch over the ship for us." She ordered, with a bit of a smug face on her.

* * *

After crossing the thick path of trees, the gang reached a clearing with a couple of trees, bushes and assorted flowers around, with a few large hills off in the distance. They walked for hours without rest, trusting on the needle of the Compass to guide them to their location. Day turned to night, and they pitched up camp, where they rested, told each others scary stories, fed themselves (thankfully Niko didn't have a part in cooking), and rested until the day.

The following day, as they walked, something in the scenery looked slightly different. "Hey, don't you think something in this scenery looks kinda different?" Niko said to Link. Link looked around, but there was not much changing from yesterday's scene: trees, flowers, bushes, clear sky, dirt road, hills... all checked out quite nic...

Link stopped. There was definitely something odd here. He looked over the immediate surroundings again, and then figured it out: a dirt road had slowly crept its way under the soles of their feet. A dirt road is not common to uncharted lands, so this must only mean that there must be, or there must have existed at some point, some sort of civilization nearby. When the pirates noticed that Link and Niko lagged behind, they turned around to check out what happened, to which Link pointed out the dirt road.

"Hmm... You may be right." Mako said after much thought. "If this road exists, then there must be a town or city of some sort at the other end."

"Well, what a convenience, then..." Tetra stated. "Because the Compass is actually pointing to this road's general route. Perhaps the place we need to go is already laid out to us." She then got back to the front of the pack and started walking down the road. "Onward, gentlemen!"

The pirate group kept walking on the road, and eventually, a large wall materialized from the horizon... after they took a right curve at a hill. The pirates took a moment to collectively look in awe the incredibly well-protected edifice.

"Wow. Would you look at that." Mako exclaimed, fixing his glasses to focus better on the fortification.

"Why, it almost looks like a castle!" Niko commented upon the majestic for in front.

"Actually... if you look there..." Zuko pointed out to a set of towers that were halfway covered by the wall. Those towers were undeniably the kind erected for a castle.

"Well, you guys, I guess you got lucky this time." Tetra commented. "Were we to find nothing at our location, you would have been the ones to start building everything from scratch." Needless to say, the pirates were not amused with such a revelation.

"What are you looking at, Link?" Gonzo asked when he noticed Link was looking intensely out his telescope. When he was called out, Link gave Gonzo the telescope and pointed where he was looking. It didn't take Gonzo long to notice what Link had seen. People... real, living people, entering and exiting the walls, which confirmed the presence of a civilization within the walls, and with it, some sort of government. "Well, call me a cuckoo and serve me up with potatoes, we got some live ones over there."

"This just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" Tetra groaned out. Just looking at the increasingly jittery needle of the Compass confirmed her thoughts: _this_ was their promised land... and it was already claimed. So, she must find a way to play conqueror and earn the right to the land. "Well... might as well begin this adventure already. Now, I'm sure they'll check us at entrance, so we have to be as inconspicuous as possible, got it?"

Tetra then took a good look at her team, a team of ragtag, filthy pirates who seem to have thrown on themselves almost every pirate cliché you could find out there: patches, tattoos, swords, guns, buck teeth, unkempt beards, nasty eyes, brown nails, clothes that basically screamed "Hey, I'm a pirate!", all of that multiplied by six (at least Link still didn't look the part for a pirate), and you got yourself a group that would be kicked out of a French Renaissance convention for being too stinky and cliché.

"Hmm..." Tetra wondered for a second... then, "We're good. Let's go." The pirates then followed her towards the wall gates, not knowing that their presence was already known.

* * *

"Sir! Sir!"

"Do you have news for me?"

"Yes, sire! A group of outsiders is approaching the city as we speak."

"And?"

"They are of the shady type. Trouble, they seem. Not to be trusted."

"Interesting... allow them into the city."

"Sire?"

"We shall have a proper welcome prepared for them. We shall show them just what this city can have in store for them..."

**To Be Continued**


	4. Waarheid: City of Teleurstelling

Never fear! REVIEW ANSWERIN' TIME is here!

Ri2: You're becoming quite a regular, aren't you? I appreciate your support. Getting to answering, Niko didn't eat the seagulls, the seagulls crashed on his big mouth. And I stand by my claim that he has squirrel-cheeks. As for Link's decision... read up again. Who was celebrating? (Personally, I say High-lee-an, but don't say it too loud.)

?: [finds some TWW pirate art]... Well, well. I was caught red handed. Those long pointy ears are a dead giveaway, no? Maybe I could fix that plothole (and the overlooked grammar problems) and make it sound funny, too. (Then again, I don't do well forcing humor in...)

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 4

Waarheid: City of Teleurstelling

"Did anybody else found it strangely convenient that we were just let in without so much as an examination?" Mako commented, looking back constantly at the gate the pirates just crossed past, where the guards told them to just pass through with no problems. Looking back, he saw the very same guards waving at them with strange looks over their faces, weirding the short man with the glasses out a lot.

"Well, it's convenient enough for us." Gonzo rebutted. "We can't really afford to seem suspicious, at least not yet. We'll take what we can get, ok?"

Tetra and her pirate crew, under pretenses of being traveling merchants looking for the best business around, had successfully infiltrated the walls of this unfamiliar city. As they walked deeper and deeper into the city, they couldn't help but feel like they were being watched at... stared at even.

"Ok, this is getting creepy." Gonzo admitted. "I know we're strangers to this place and all, but man, does it feel like they're staring down our souls."

"That's what I've been telling you about." Mako said. "something's just not right about this place. Almost as if we were not welcome."

"What could _possibly_ make you say that?" Senza asked as they walked down a small residential district, where the people ran indoors and closed their doors and windows as soon as the pirates came close.

"Hmm... just a feeling." Mako answered.

The group eventually found its way to a small park area, where you'd normally find people having a good time, children playing around, old men sitting and giving pieces of bread to the birds... that is, were these guys not there. All the same, they took the opportunity of privacy to huddle by the park's fountain and quietly set up the plan at work.

"So, what's the plan?" Niko asked.

"Well..." Nudge thought for a short while. "We have bombs. We could just use those to storm in. We plant a bomb right in front of whoever's in charge, and no matter what he says... BOOM! New world order."

Tetra bonked Nudge with the maps she was carrying. "Don't be stupid, that's reckless." she said in admonishment. "Besides, if we blow the guy to smithereens, we'll mess up my future snazzy office, and I am not gonna clean it up." She then pulled out the maps from before, and opened a city map which she... "borrowed" from the info booth at the entrance. "What we need to do is get information. Where we are, what are the city's weak spots, any possible secret entrances, any dirt on the current reigning government or whatever they may call it... anything that we can use in our strategy. We're gonna have to split up for this. Gonzo will go with Zuko. Mako, you and Nudge will be the other group. Senza and Niko will be group number three. And Link and I will be the final group." She then handed out the city maps to each group. "We'll meet back here in about 2 hours. Don't you dare get lost, ok?"

* * *

"Hey, ma'am, will you..."

"Excuse me, sir, if I may have..."

"Can you please hear me out for... and they ignore me again."

It was frustrating for Gonzo. Nobody was cooperating with him. He really wanted to get some good information, but nobody was willing to give any. His sigh of frustration told all: a deadline he might not keep, information he might not gather... and a stoic partner who has barely moved an inch for the cause.

"You know, it would help a lot if you tried doing a better job at this." Gonzo complained at the guy he was stuck with, Zuko.

Zuko looked over at Gonzo with that stoic look that defined him, and proceeded to walk over to a lady. "Excuse me..." he said.

"Oh, you're talking to little ol' me?" The lady turned around and faced Zuko. "Oh, well aren't you the cutest little pirate I've ever seen. What can I do for you, young man?"

"...Why do I feel inadequate?" Zuko whispered, looking away for a moment.

"Excuse me, Ma'am." Gonzo interrupted before things got too embarrassing. "We're... reporters from a magazine, and we're doing a story on the town's best kept secrets."

"Magazine?" The lady questioned. "What magazine, exactly?"

"Eh..." Gonzo stuttered to try and find an answer. "Our magazine's name is... is... Great!"

"Great?" Zuko questioned.

"Yeah... the Great Magazine!" Gonzo said cheerfully, then quickly moved by Zuko. "Just work with me here, ok" he whispered. "We're new, you see, and we're looking to start off with a 'GREAT' story on this marvelous city's best kept secrets."

"Oh!" The lady exclaimed understandably "Well, you just came to the right lady to ask. You see, the land of Waarheid is a big place, and being a big place means there are bound to be a lot of secrets laying around. For example, did you know that the emperor has a dog-shaped mole on the back of his neck? It's true! I heard that people who have dog-shaped moles in the back of their necks are usually very quick on their feet. And I don't mean quick as in he could run fast, but quick as in he is very smart and can quickly come up with solutions to problems. There's a reason he's the emperor, y'know."

"Ok, ok." Gonzo said while trying to write down what he could on his piece of paper. "Continue."

"Well, as I was saying, there's a big castle on the northern side of the city and it has its back to a hill. Strangely enough, the Emperor doesn't live nor work there. His offices are in a mansion, closer to the Town Square, though they're no less fabulous. I heard the reason they don't use it is because the castle was cursed by some old wizards and anybody who lived there was doomed to a life of misfortune. But then again, who would live on a castle? They're not fashionable anymore, and they're grimy and uncomfortable and a nightmare to clean up. Besides..."

* * *

"So, why am I stuck with you again?" Nudge asked his "teammate" as they walk around town.

Mako sighed. "Look, Nudge, I don't like this any more than you do, but orders are orders." He stopped, making Nudge stop and turn around to face him. "Listen, we had a couple of bad moments before, but that was then and this is now. So what do you say?" Mako then stretched his hand, fully expecting a shake. "Let bygones be bygones?"

Nudge looked over at Mako in a rather sketchy manner. He wasn't sure he could trust him... but if he lost the trust here, it would be troublesome later.

"Bygones." Nudge said, extending his arm in a firm handshake. As they began walking again, Nudge started laughing lightly. "Heh, heh... that was a stupid argument, after all. Why did I get so angry over something so trivial like..."

"High-lee-an?" Mako suggested.

"It's HEE-LIAN! HEE-LIAN! Say it right or I'll wring you dry!!!" Nudge exploded, going off right on Mako's face, staining his glasses. Mako, instead of being scared, was actually rather amused by the sudden outburst.

"Let's just continue on what we're supposed to do, ok?" Mako said, walking off and leaving the fuming Nudge behind. He soon found a convenience store, and wondered if he could find some good info there. He entered the store, and finding no one on it, he started calling out. "Hello! Anybody home?"

"Quit yer yellin', dagnabbit! I'm coming, I'm coming!" A shrill, elderly voice echoed from the back of the store. "Young people always in a hurry... can't get anything done back here..." Then, from the back of the store emerged a small, bald, wrinkly old man walking with the aid of a cane. He was so small, Mako had to stand on tippy-toes to at least see the man's bald skull. The man inched his way to the counter and literally climbed up to his stool to greet his client. "This back is killin' me... Yeah, yeah, what're you buying? Eh?" He looked around but found no one standing by. He then looked down to notice an equally small man with glasses looking up. "Oh, there you are. So what do you want, kid?"

"I... I'm not here to buy anything, I just want some info on this..."

"I ain't gonna tell you nothing if you don't buy from me." The old man declared.

Mako groaned. This wasn't going as he planned. "So... how much for the Deku nuts?"

"Deku nuts are 10 rupees apiece." The old man said. They're nutritious AND practical if you're ever in battle and need to blind your opponent."

Mako pulled out two blue rupees and set them on the counter. "A Deku nut, please, with some information about this city."

The old man was quick to oblige to his paying costumer. "Here's the nut. Now, this here's the city of Waarheid."

"Yes, and?" Mako asked for more information.

"Deku nuts, 10 rupees." The old man flatly said.

"Wha... Wait a minute!" Mako blurted out. "That's a ripoff!"

"That's commerce, sonny." The old man rebutted. "You'd think you were gonna get a lot for 10 rupees? Dream on."

"Grrrrr..." Mako growled... but pulled out 10 more rupees and bought another Deku nut and another tidbit of information.

"This place is home of the best horseback archery team in land or sea, the Leugenhars..."

"What are you doing." Nudge interrupted when he found Mako inside the convenience store.

"I'm just finding out some good information about this city... what was it called again?" Mako said, turning to the old man to ask him again.

"Waarheid."

"Waarheid." Mako confirmed. Nudge saw this an walked closed to the counter, curious about what information there could be. "If you please, my good man, continue." Mako said.

"Deku nuts, 10 rupees." The old man flatly said.

"Gah!" Mako goraned in frustration. This was gonna be a long day.

"Oh, so that's how it is." Nudge said, a stern look growing in his face. "You take advantage of poor tourists like us who just want to know more about this city and try to bleed us out of our money. You should be ashamed of yourself. You're an old man, you're supposed to be wise and friendly and stuff, not greedy and opportunistic. You will not get another rupee from me or my friend for as long as we're here. Good day, sir!" And with those words, Nudge nudged Mako to leave the store.

"I can tell you some good dirt on the emperor..." The old man said very suggestively.

Those words were enough to stop the duo cold at the doorstep. They skeptically looked back at the old man at the counter, who had a sly look written all over his face. They looked at each other, then looked back into the store. They couldn't help it... curiosity had taken them over.

"This better be some good info." Nudge warned as he and Mako walked back in. "Ok, old timer, speak."

"Deku nuts, 10 rupees." The old man flatly said.

Nudge groaned loudly, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. The old man was going on with his greedy charade. He felt like this was about enough, and he could barely handle anything anymore. But still... the info.

"Thank you." The old man said as he received his payment. He handed a Deku nut and began speaking. "Now, this emperor of ours..."

* * *

"(singing) Follow the yellow brick road! Follow the yellow brick road!

Follow, Follow, Follow, Follow, Follow the yellow brick road."

Senza found no other way to rub his head in attempt to find patience to stand Niko's incessant singing. Sadly, it was not working, and his patience was running dangerously low.

"(singing) Follow the yellow-brick, follow the yellow-brick, Follow the yellow-brick road! "

Senza could not stand it any longer, and was resorting to extreme measures, like ramming rupees in his ears to try and muffle the shrill screams that Niko tries to pass off as singing.

"(singing) Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee're off to see the wizard! The magical wizard of..."

"**STOP! SINGING!!**" Senza yelled out at the top of his lungs. "That is the LAST time we stop to see any outdoor plays like that!"

"What?" Niko defended himself, clutching his pamphlet of the show they just spent 10 minutes watching. "Don't you like futuristic musicals? I personally liked the music. It was so catchy."

"I noticed..." Senza seethed, teeth clenched to avoid screaming again.

"Gee, Senza, you look kinda stressed." Niko pointed out, oblivious of the reason why Senza was so tense in the first place. "You should probably lay down, find a way to unwind, drink something smooth and don't let anything bother y... Hey, look! A harbor!" He yelled out, pointing out his discovery.

Senza... was grateful. If he had payed no notice to Niko's last words, his fist might have found his way to his partner's nose. The discovery of such a large hallmark, however, was no small thing, and Senza knew this lone moment earned them their pay. A harbor, a place where they could easily disembark and bring supplies to the ship, was very valuable for them. The duo walked down to the harbor to speak to some of the people there.

"Ahoy, sailor!" Senza shouted to a gruff man lugging a barrel around. "Who's in charge of this harbor?"

The gruff sailor set the barrel down and gave an unmistakably dirty look at Senza. "Why do ye want t' know?" he asked.

"We only need to bring a ship to port, but we were unaware that this existed." Senza explained.

The man looked at him very intensely, which was making Senza very uncomfortable. The man spat a large, green loogie (Editorial: The who what, again?) right by Senza, then pointed to a small building due south. "Down the hall, up the stairs, and to the left. Just follow the signs."

"Right... thanks." Senza said. He pulled Niko and went straight to the building. The office was very odd. The general scent was rather foul. Now, sailors aren't exactly the cleanest of people, but this odor was an obtuse exaggeration in the nasty department. Also, the paint job was positively... lively, to say the least. The pastels look like they were at war with the neons, the blues with the reds, the purples with the browns, the neat with the unkempt. And the decor... plants with a dozen knives skewering them, broken chandeliers, and a frame of a boat in a calm sea with a shark swimming just below... what was going on in here?

"What kind of stark raving mad man would do these abominations to his cabin?" Niko wondered. "It's almost as if the 'man' handling things here was a..."

"Well, HELLO there!" a creepy voice came from outside, sending horribly cold chills down Niko and Senza's vertebrae. They hesitantly turned around to see a tall, lanky man, bald on the top, but sporting a hearty beard, and wearing a turquoise striped shirt and blue short.

"I am called the Guru, and I run this harbor in the name of the Emperor." Guru introduced himself with the biggest grin he could muster. He walked over to his chair, whistling all the way.

"S... Senza... I'm scared." Niko whispered to his partner.

"Well, tough it out." Senza answered. "We need to do this, and we need to do it now." He then turned to Guru and spoke. "So, Mr. Guro... eh... Guru! Let's say that I, hypothetically, own a ship and I need to drop dead... ANCHOR! Here... drop anchor here. Is there anything I should know?"

"It's actually quite simple, you only need to be prepared to pay a small fee when you come in, no questions asked." Guru answered.

"Is that all?"

"That's all!" Guru said. "Unless you want to know about our extended personal plan..."

"NO!" Senza and Niko yelled in unison, their uneasiness catching up with them.

"Well, thanks for that. We'll just leave the same way we came in. Which is this." Senza hurried and pushed Niko to the exit.

"WAIT!" Guru prompted the guys to halt the pirates' progress with a yell. "I want you to be honest with me, though."

"He's on to us!" Niko whispered to Senza, unable to control his fear. "He'll turn us over to the authorities and we'll be hung for sure."

"Well, if you weren't shaking so much..." Senza reprimanded the young pirate.

"We should just make a run for it. Now." Niko suggested.

"... Tempting... but we can just resolve this somehow." Senza then turned over to Guru, feigning control and happiness. "What is it?"

"Tell me the truth..." Guru started. Then... he simply sat there, staring at the two men in front of them for what seemed like an eternity, which didn't help Niko's condition. Then, suddenly... "What do you think of the decoration?"

"Eh?" Niko was confused.

"The decoration!" Guru said more forcefully. "I did this all by myself! I personally think it's a masterpiece... but don't take my word for it. Please, take a moment to let it sink in and envelop your senses into it. Now please tell me what you think about it."

"Uh... Well... It's... it certainly left an impression on me." Senza said, trying to find the best words he could muster.

"It really does?" Guru said, noticeably excited. "I wanted to try and give people such an impression. I call it... impressionist!"

"Well, thanks for the impression. I was really impressed. I could not be more impressed if were pressed against the wall... bound and gagged... at knifepOW!"

"Shut it, Niko." Senza kicked his partner to make him shut up, then hurried him out the door. "See you soon!" He said to Guru. "Not too soon, I hope." he whispered.

"Why do I always have that sort of impression with people?" Guru asked to himself. "Could it be the office?" He looked around the horrid design he had given the office, which one could only guess happened during a bad day on a bad moment with a bad set of mind. "Hmm... Nah! Couldn't be."

* * *

"Now..." Tetra began. "I don't want you getting the wrong idea. You're my partner because I'm contractually obliged to lug you around." Calm as they come, Link simply looked at Tetra, sporting a sly smile. "What are you smirking about?" Tetra snarled, to which Link turned his gaze forward and shook his hands in front of him to shrug the case off.

"You know, you oughta know your place in my crew by know." Tetra muttered.

"Which is...?"

Tetra stared down at Link. "Did you just talk back at me?" She asked with a none-too-happy face. Link had a confused face and limited himself to shake his head in negation. Tetra's piercing gaze didn't drop, but the green garbed boy kept claiming his innocence. She looked around to see if anybody else what close, but there was no one close enough. "Maybe it was my imagination. But just so you know, I don't take disrespect so lightly."

"That's harsh."

Tetra stopped. Link noticed this a few steps further, then turned around to see what was wrong with the young captain. "That wasn't my mind. I'm sure I heard someone speak." She reached for her sabre, and began looking around the desolate alley for any signs of life. "Who's there? Show yourself!" She commanded.

Suddenly, someone sprung from the bushes right behind her. "I come in peAUGH!" the man couldn't say anymore as Tetra turned around blindly and slashed him in the gut area. Link jumped in shock upon witnessing the event. Thankfully, he was just out of Tetra's swing radius.

"... OW! That really stung!" The man yelled as he reincorporated from the floor. He noticed the obviously tense Tetra and decided to ease her up a bit... by raising his shirt. "Thank goodness I wear my skin-tight armor all the time. It's a bit hot and heavy, but its really helpful in times like this."

"Who are you?" Tetra questioned the man as she sheathed her sabre.

"Me? My name is Miyahon, and I am an artist!" The man introduced himself with an exaggerated bow. This middle-aged man with grayish clothes and thick mane sat down in the floor whit his legs crossed, pulled out a pen and paper from his pants and proceeded to look intensively at the pair in front of him. "And you guys are PERFECT!"

Link and Tetra couldn't help but look at the man weirdly. "Perfect? For what?" Tetra asked, noticing he started to scribble on his piece of paper. "And... what are you doing with that paper?"

"Stay still!" Miyahon ordered, stopping Tetra cold. "You have sprung my inspiration! Why, I feel just about ready to make an adventure based on you two alone!" He pounded on that paper furiously as he drew up a rough sketch of Link and Tetra. "The possibilities are flooding my mind! Why, I could make a rough 'n tough pirate story... Or an epic adventure with the kid in green here as the hero and you as his sidekick... Or even better, you'd be the damsel in distress... even a probable love interest!"

"Wait, what!?" Tetra yelled out. "What exactly do you think you are?" He grabbed Link by the arm and began tugging him away. "We're wasting time. We need to find out what we can about this place, and we're standing around like idiots."

"Wait a minute. I almost forgot." Miyahon said. "There was a reason I originally approached you." Miyahon stood up, dusted off his clothes, and approached the duo so very uncomfortably close. "I heard you guys are looking for dirt on the emperor. Is that right?" Link and Tetra looked at each other with matching disturbed looks in their faces, then hesitantly turned back at Miyahon and nodded in confirmation. "Good, because I happen to be part of an underground rebellion who's looking to overthrow the current empire. You might have heard nothing but good tidings for the emperor from the townsfolk, but it's only because it's law! You dare speak ill of the empire, the least you'll get is 30 years."

"Whoa. That's harsh." Tetra commented. She thought about it for a short while before opening her mouth again. "Wait. That's good!"

"Good?" Miyahon said, joining Link in looking Tetra weirdly. "That's awful. And that's only one of the things we've been able to gather from them. Just imagine what we don't..."

"I said that it's good, and it's good." Tetra reaffirmed her stance. "If we can get this info out, we can create a revolt big enough the big guns cannot..."

"It won't work." Miyahon butts in, talking somewhat solemnly, but seemingly incapable of moving erratically about. "Already tried that. Three years ago. We didn't get enough support and we lost a lot there. And that was the last of the attempts in recent memory." Miyahon pulled out a newspaper out of his pants and gave it to a squeamish Tetra. The headline read 'Botched insurgence finishes in massive arrests and casualties'. "Since then, we've figured the best way to get this oppressor down from the throne is to do it from the inside. But we cannot infiltrate no matter what."

Link and Tetra paced about trying to take all this in. This was a break for them... and at the same time, it was a very inopportune set of news. If they ever wanted to continue with their quest, they needed to come up with a new approach to the situation. Then, an idea hit Link. He swiped a piece of paper from Miyahon's pants, and began drawing up some plans. Tetra and Miyahon looked carefully as Link kept giving form to his idea. Finished, he presented the idea to Tetra.

"Of course." Tetra nodded upon seeing the plans. "If one of your guys cannot infiltrate, then why not someone from outside? One who's face isn't known... like Link and myself."

Miyahon opened his mouth to protest, but thought a bit more, and couldn't find much to fault about it. "That may actually work." He then pulled a set of papers from his pants and gave them to a very squeamish Tetra. "This is all the info we've gathered. It'll do you good, even if we haven't figured out some key points."

"I'm afraid to ask... but how do you keep all this stuff in your pants?"

"Eh..." Miyahon stuttered an answer. "... Hammerspace?"

"Eh... It's okay. I'd rather not know." Tetra said, giving the papers to Link for safekeeping. "Well, I think we're good to go. Let's go meet up the guys. I'm sure they got some good information. I just hope they're not caught up in anything and turn up late."

* * *

... 2 hours later...

"... Because Terry was always thinking more about himself than about his father's business, and when they came to rob the place, he was supposed to be on duty, but he was out with his friends drinking and whatnot, and they turned the place upside down and ran away with a lot of loot. Needless to say, Grant kicked his own good-for-nothing son out on the street. And that leads to a juicy scandal that happened with a local opera singer that lived right in front of Grant's house. Oh, she's a lovely singer, mind you, but there were always rumors of shady practices to keep herself slim and pretty. Anything from eating strange things -if at all- to shady medical practices to witchcraft, you name it, everybody thought she did it. Also..."

Gonzo and Zuko were nodding on the verge of sleep, hearing this once-sweet lady rant nonstop about random trivia from the city. Strangely enough, the only thing keeping them awake was the lady's screeching voice yapping constantly, seemingly without ever taking a breath.

"Ma'am, I think..." Zuko tried to intervene.

"Wait, I'm just getting to the best part, sonny." The lady said.

"Sonny? I'm not a kid..."

"Now where was I?" The lady continued. "Oh, yes. That opera singer. Did you know it was a dream of mine to sing in the opera? But as it turns out, I never properly developed the voice for it... or the lungs... or the physique... or pretty much any sort of refined features. So, I had resigned myself to singing in the bath. I swear, they make those baths to have the meanest of acoustics. I wanna know who designed the baths like that... though I don't know what I would say to him... or her, if it was a woman. You know, it would be funny if it was a woman who designed the bathrooms, beacause..."

"ENOUGH!!!" Gonzo yelled out, being considerably annoyed by the woman's incessant yapping. "I... I think we got enough info."

"Are you sure?" the lady asked. "I can always tell you about..."

"YES!" Gonzo yelled in reaction. "I think we'll manage. Thank you for your contribution." He looked up to the sun and noticed ho far it had moved since they started. "Holy smokes, we're late. Come on, Zuko, we don't wanna make the boss mad." And with that, Gonzo and Zuko rushed out of the zone.

"Bye now!" The lady shouted. "I can hardly wait for your next issue! I'm sure it'll be a mega hit!"

* * *

Back at the park, Tetra and the others started gathering around the fountain to discuss their progress. But first...

"Where's Nudge and Mako?" Tetra asked.

"I'm sorry, Miss Tetra." Nudge apologized... from behind the stack of Deku nuts. "This stuff is surprisingly had to carry."

Upon seeing what Mako and Nudge were carrying, she immediately went into angry mode. "What... is that you're carrying?" she asked.

"Oh these?" Mako said. "Well, this old man gave us an offer we couldn't refuse, and we got some good information, too."

"It took a while, but we got what we wanted." Nudge added.

That comment stood out as odd for Tetra. "How many nuts did you buy, exactly?" she asked.

"Eh... let's see..." Mako thought, trying to do the math in his mind. "It was around... eh.. around... three hundred... fifty... seven?" He finished, hesitantly.

Tetra facepalmed. "Well... at least you guys know what you'll be eating for the next weeks. Enjoy your Deku nut diet."

Afterwards, the guys reviewed what they had learned through their different sources. After a good, long discussion weeding out the good from the misleading, the team had something to work with.

"Ok, this is what we'll do." Tetra began explaining. "I need you six to go back to the ship, then dock it at the harbor. Afterwards, scout these so-called "rat holes" we've been told about and how would they help us. Stock up on supplies as always, and keep the ship ready. Meanwhile, Link and I will attempt to infiltrate the emperor's headquarters and tell him how things are going to be run from now on. Wish us luck."

And with those words, the group separated. The six pirates, led by Gonzo, walked out of Waarheid's walls and headed to where they had left the ship. Tetra and Link, on the other hand, marched all the way to the grand mansion that served as the emperor's working quarters, bent on making an unforgettable impression on the emperor, even if they had to bring down everything, kitchen sink included! Nothing was just about to slow her down!

* * *

"Do you have an appointment?" The receptionist asked in a very monotonous voice.

"Eh... No, we don't have an appointment, but it's important that we see him today." Tetra tried to explain.

The main receptionist in the emperor's office looked at Tetra with those very monotonous eyes that she couldn't clearly read, and opened her wrinkly old mouth. "I'll see if I can squeeze you in. Please take a seat, Ms. Toffins."

Tetra and Link turned to some chairs and sat next to each other. In front of them was a stack of old magazines. They tried as hard and mighty as they could, but the allure of the magazines was too much to handle, so they each ended up grabbing a magazine and skimming over it.

"Hmm... interesting." Tetra muttered while reading the magazine. "101 ways to prevent pirate attacks? I heard of this before..."

...

"Oh, ho ho ho ho... Link, you've got to see this one. 'Are you surrounded by idiots? Take this quiz'. Classic."

...

"Well, you can tell a horoscope is outdated when it's totally wrong even for the day it's supposed to run."

...

"So... do you think the guys have made it to the ship already?" Tetra took her eyes off the magazine and looked at Link to ask. Link took a look at the window, and seeing how the sun had barely moved since they entered, he shook his head. "You're probably right. We did land a bit far off." Tetra let the subject drop for a moment, inciting the awkward silence to creep in. "I trust they will pull through, though." She added. "That's why I chose them, despite their flaws. I trust them... But don't you go around saying that to them."

...

"Link..." Tetra said, keeping her gaze forward without really wanting to look at the guy. "I have to be honest with you. I've been having... thoughts. Weird thoughts." Link looked at her curiously, then began to make hand gestures suggesting her thoughts may have something to do with her "encounter" not too long ago. "No, no, Link. It's not about the Goddesses. I'm way past that. No, these thoughts inevitably pivot around a singular part in my life..." Tetra looked down to the floor. She really didn't know how to continue, and somehow, she didn't really know how she even began to talk about this to begin with. Very shyly, she looked at Link through the very corner of her eye, only to meet head-on with his own eyes, forcing her to bite her cheeks from the inside to avoid any involuntary movements.

"Ms. Toffins, the Emperor can see you now." The receptionist interrupted in the nick on time, with her usual monotone voice. Tetra let out a sigh that felt equal parts frustration and relief. "You have five minutes. Don't waste them."

* * *

"Welcome to Waarheid. I'm Dante, the Emperor, ruler, CEO, governor, highest ranking officer in the armed forces and general manager of the place." The emperor introduced himself to the pair sitting in front of him. He was a tall, imposing man dressed in dark military clothing with a rough, hard to read face and long, greatly unkempt hair "What can I do for you?"

"Well, there's something I..." Tetra began, only to be interrupted by some sort of timer being set by Dante. "What is that?"

"I'm on a schedule here. Hurry, or I'll have to kick you out." Dante explained in a very stuffy manner, earning the angry looks from Link and Tetra.

"Then I'll be brief." Tetra said, pulling out her documents. "I have reason to believe you're not running this country as you should. Extortion, under-the-table deals, civil oppression, unjust incarceration and torture, general stepping over of the people, puppy kicking, kitty littering, etcetera, etcetera. And that's only the stuff we've managed to dig up." She then spread the paperwork dramatically across the table, in full view of the Emperor. "Your reign of terror ends here. I'm here to replace you, and you don't have any soldiers nearby to help you, either. So, you wanna do this the easy way, or the hard way?"

Tetra waited a while. She wanted to allow it all to sink in to the Emperor, and be capable to relish in his reaction. However, something was wrong. Instead of the symptoms she was waiting for -sweaty palms, bated breath, shifty eyes- she could hear some stifled laughter. Tetra looked up to the Emperor who was going over some of the stuff in his desk, shaking his head in disbelief and trying hard to not laugh. The tall, imposing man could hardly believe he was being threatened by a couple of children to step down from his position.

"Let me get this straight." Dante spoke, stroking his perfectly trimmed goatee and looking like it was giving the subject some deep thought. "You're telling me to skip town and never come back just so you can take over."

"Yup."

"And... You have all this mountain of evidence to support your claim. Is this correct?"

"A-yup."

"And... I'm just guessing here... did you get all this from that nutcase Miyahon, right?"

"That's r... what?"Tetra quickly reacted to the Emperor's remarks. "Nutcase?"

"Do you seriously believe what a random lunatic in the street tells you? You look smarter than that." Dante responded. "Have you talked to other people in town? Everybody loves me. Everybody loves what I do. My approval ratings are through the roof. You could go out right now and promise everybody the moon and the stars and they wouldn't bat an eye in your direction."

"Kind of the reason I came here first..." Tetra muttered.

"So even if you do manage to force me to sign a surrender treaty, the people would not accept you." Dante said with a rather dark undertone on his voice. "So begone. All of you. You and your friends have no place in my Waarheid. Go now, before I decide to act upon your insubordination!"

Tetra could barely believe it not even 5 minutes into the insurgence proper and she's already losing. She was put on the defensive, and if she didn't act quick, then it could all be over. She then thought to play the card she had been saving for a good occasion. "Do you know who I am?" Upon hearing this, Link was surprised. Will she really...?

"Do I know who you are?" Dante repeated mockingly. "No, and frankly, I don't care. All I care about is that you get off my face and out of my town."

Tetra's eyes began to ignite as she stood in the very chair she was sitting on. "I think you should know." Tetra snarled, while Link stood in anticipation to every word his partner would speak.

"I... am... Tetra."

Link facepalmed.

"I am the leader of the roughest, most infamous band of pirates to ever cross the Great Sea. And I am not one to let up on a bounty, treasure, or quest so easily. Do not think I am about to give up, even if I have to kick you out myself."

_*DING!*_

"Oh, my, look at the time." Dante spouted upon the opportune timer running its course. "It's been a nice an energetic chat, but I have an actually important person to meet, and you have a little fantasy to deflate from your head. Goodbye now, and don't fall when walking down the stairs. No, seriously, it feels they waxed it with oil and you could fall down the stairs at any moment."

Tetra shot an intense glare straight to Dante's face, but deep down she knew she wasn't going to accomplish much here. Resignated, she patted Link and motioned him to follow her out the door.

"Damn that Miyahon." Dante muttered. "He's becoming a bigger problem than before. I may need to silence him for good this time."

"Wait... what?" Tetra said just as she reached the door. "Why would you want to silence that man? If he's a nutcase, then he's not a real threat... unless..." Her angered face slowly transformed to a more sly and gleeful one as she decidedly marched back to the Emperor's desk. "Unless he really IS right. You ARE doing all those horrible things, and you know he knows. So before he uncovers more stuff, you want to do him away." Having stood back in the chair, she crossed her hands triumphantly and continued. "Link, write that down. We'll consider that the Emperor's confession."

For the first time in the whole conversation, the Emperor began looking uneasy. His slip-up was not exactly a minor one, after all. "All right. I was careless." He admitted. "But... if there's one thing I've learned in my years as ruler, is to always have a backup plan. GUARDS!"

Suddenly, the side walls of the room flipped over, revealing three soldiers on each wall, brandishing their swords. Tetra and Link jumped right to the center of the room in reaction and unsheathed their blades. "Link, back-to-back tactic, now!"

The guards quickly circled around Link and Tetra, effectively trapping them. "Don't let these traitors live." Dante ordered.

The first soldier threw the first swipe directly at Link, to which he blocked with his shield. He then swung his sword, which clanged on the guard's armor, but didn't do much damage. Tetra, on her side, was sword-locked with another soldier, trying to push him out of her face. The soldier was noticeably stronger, and his sword was inching closer to Tetra. Suddenly, Tetra pulled out a hammer from her item bag and threw a blow straight on the guard's helm, knocking him out cold.

Two soldiers signaled to each other to take advantage of the weak spot between the pair's backs. They thrusted their swords right on the sweet spot... only to be met by the quick reflexes of the Link and Tetra team, who jumped in tandem right on top of the swords. The weight of their opponents proved too much for the guards, who fell to the floor by stubbornly holding on to their blades, provoking their hands to break due to the force of impact and the weight of their opponents. Afterwards, Link and Tetra kicked their helms out of the way to finally defeat them.

Two to three. Now things were a bit more balanced for Link and Tetra. The three soldiers decide to charge at the same time, to which Link responded by taking out his Deku Leaf and he blew the lot out to the wall. Tetra followed by using her grappling hook and relieving the soldiers from their helms and front armor. When the guards reacted again, they were facing the business end of Tetra's sabre.

"You have a choice right now. Leave, or perish now." Tetra said. The soldiers needed no second warning, as they immediately ran away from the office carrying their knocked out comrades with them.

"Let me guess..." Tetra taunted the Emperor, who was wiping his sweat with a cloth at the moment. "You were careless... again."

"Heh... you're good, pirate. I'll give you that." Dante said among heavy breathing. "But now you still have to deal with me. And believe me, I didn't become emperor by coincidence."

"If you wanna die so much..." Tetra said. She then looked at Link. "Leave him to me. He'll be easy." She prepared her sabre, then ran straight to the Emperor. She jumped to the chair, which served as a stepping stone to get to the desk, she swung as hard as she could, and... a shocking surge of energy reverberated through Tetra's body, paralyzing her efforts and throwing her back to the floor. Link immediately ran to her side to assess her damage. "Didn't see that coming... _*COUGH!*_" Tetra reacted to Link's concern, amidst coughing up smoke clouds.

Dante, making a full recovery from his distraught self just a few moments ago, walked away from his desk and approached the two youngsters on the floor. "It seems you overestimated your powers, dear pirate. Taking me down will prove difficult, should you choose to continue pursuing this hopeless daydream. There's not a single creature in this world who can oppose me. You would need a power stronger than mine to try and take me on, and you'd be hard-pressed to find such power."

"Shoot, he's got a magical shield around him." Tetra explained. "We can't get him like this. We need to regroup and come up with a plan."

"Regroup, you say?" Dante taunted. "Not likely. You see, I know everything that goes on in here. I know you sent your subordinates back to your ship. And I know that when they get there, they'll find a little surprise courtesy of me. And I know that you won't be able to regroup anymore, since you're all that's left. And when I'm done with you, I'll have that insane activist's head."

However, just as he finished speaking, a tremendously loud noise came from outside. Dante looked over at the window behind his desk, and upon seeing what it was, he threw himself to the ground and braced for impact. Suddenly, the whole wall behind the Emperor's desk was blown off, causing debris to fly everywhere and forcing Link and Tetra to share Link's shield as a makeshift refuge. When everything cleared, they looked out of the "redecorated" window, and on the harbor in the distance was their pirate ship waiting, with cannons drawn and ready to fire.

* * *

...Some time before...

"Hurry, guys. If we follow this shortcut, we'll be at our ship in no time!" Mako leaded the group trying to get to the ship as fast as possible, which is why they were in a low claustrophobic tunnel they discovered to try and go under the massive hills and reach their destination. "Look, there's the exit. We're almost out." He said, pointing at a faint, distant light.

Everybody was clearly glad to get out of the tunnel, and they were double glad because they could see the familiar beach and their ship on the distance. Then, they started hearing some noises in the direction of the ship: noises like screaming and barking and some trees falling. Instead of worried, the pirates walked on, curious of what could possibly happen by their ship.

When they reach the ship, they notice a bunch of Waarheid soldiers overtaken by fear, who have been trying their best to commandeer the pirate ship but were stopped by a couple of strange black animals with huge mouths and razor-sharp teeth and no legs but impressive jumping skills. The soldiers would have been mincemeat already if it weren't for the fact that these animals were being bound by strong chains. The pirates could not help but laugh as they witnessed a brave soldier's attempt to crush the animals with a fallen palm tree, only to be left with a few splinters of the tree left.

"Well, well, well." Gonzo began. "So this is the mighty army of Waarheid. Can't even take care of a tiny pest problem, right?" After asking that question, the whole pirate crew burst out in laughter.

Niko then moved to one of the vicious animals, and upon seeing him approach, the animal turned tame and friendly. "Who's my cute little chompy? You are! Oh, yes, you are! Did ya miss me? Were these bad men bothering you?"

"Wait... are those things... yours?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Yes. They're chomps." Mako answered as he walked over to another one of those animals. "Very violent if you don't know how to treat them. They make the perfect guard."

So... uh... What are you going to do with them?" Another soldier asked.

"Oh, nothing." Senza said as he and the other pirates moved to the remaining chomps. "We pet them, we give them some food, we let them hop around, that kind of stuff."

"Oh... wait... hop around?"

The soldier's frightened comment came just in time to see the pirates remove the chains on the chomps. "Sic 'em!" Niko ordered the vicious animals, who immediately hopped towards the soldiers, forcing them to run right into the thick forest by the beach to escape and ensuing much laughter from the pirates.

"I'll never get tired of those chomps." Niko said before joining the others in pushing the ship back to water to sail it to the harbor as planned.

* * *

"Boy, are those guys reckless." Tetra commented, turning to Link. "Remind me to thank them."

Then, before Dante could react, Tetra and Link jumped off the hole in the wall and glided out to safety using Link's Deku Leaf. They hit the ground running, intent on making it to the harbor before they could get caught. Dante, in his part, got up from the warzone that was once his office, and took a good look at the hole the pirate ship had made. "Well... I guess having a harbor view was not the smartest of ideas." That's when he noticed that the two troublemakers had escaped and were probably going to join the rest of their gang over at the docks. "Ms. Receptionist?" He called, rather calmly at that.

"Yes, Mr. Dante?" The receptionist entered the broken office, talking in her monotone voice.

"Call the general, tell him to mobilize all forces to the pirate ship in the harbor. Do not let them escape."

"Will do, sir."

"Oh... and call Doris. Tell her to set up the spare room as my new office."

"Right away, sir."

"You won't get away, pirate." He scowled grimly, looking at the overblown scenery in front of him.

Meanwhile, Link and Tetra did their best to run, run as fast as they could. The faint sound of sped up clanging in the distance confirmed what they knew: they were being chased by the emperor's soldiers, so they did every trick they could come up with to throw the soldiers off their scent. In the heat of the chase, however, the adrenaline took over and the trill of the chase seemed more important than a sense of direction, tiredness, stealth... or shyness, or doubt, or insecurity. For the briefest of moments, they felt so sure of themselves. They may have everything against them now, but they have been in these shoes before and they've pulled through all the same, and this would be no different. They would not be caught. They would be free; forever free to do as they pleased, to roam the seas and cast away any who would dare slow them down. They would ride the sunset, and thrive to reach the place where the waters meet the sky, and steal a slice of heaven to delight themselves in the unparalleled taste. And they would do it... together... as one.

...If only Gonzo wasn't right there in front of them.

_*THUD*_

_*CRASH*_

_*KERPOW*_

"Did... someone saw the horse that ran me over?" Gonzo said woozily.

Tetra looked around, not exactly sure where she was. When she assessed the situation, she noticed they were somewhere within a string of trees, with a clear view of the harbor not too far from here. "Well, I guess the plan worked, considering we ran into a few bumps here and there and we had to improvise..."

"So you did it?" Gonzo asked. "When do we move in?"

"What?" Tetra questioned, still a bit dazed. When she made sense of Gonzo's expression, she quickly stretched her hands out to stop his thought process. "No, not that. The plan backfired, he was into us from the beginning and we need to skedaddle before we're skewered like a pincushion and tortured to no end. Now start thinking up a new plan." She said calmly.

"Then... what worked?"

"That." Tetra pointed to the inner part of town, where the soldiers were running amok with no sense of direction, often bumping with each other and running in circles without any real rhyme or reason besides claiming that they saw the fugitives walk that way. "Eh... remind me to fire them when I rise to power." she commented as she analyzed the scene.

Gonzo nudged his boss in a hurrying manner to snap her back on the matter at hand. " Miss Tetra, we really need to go. They're not gonna run in circles forever!"

"Wanna bet?" Tetra smirked.

"Come on, captain, this is serious!" Gonzo stressed the urgency of their retreat, to which Tetra complied and headed straight to the ship, where the rest of the crew was just about ready to set sail. Not a second later that they were on board, a platoon of soldiers came charging through the harbor, disrupting the peace of the workers and stomping on anything that was in between them and the pirate ship.

"Halt! Cease and desist!" the sergeant shouted at the pirate ship while trying to reach them.

"I'm sorry! We can't attend you right now! We're kinda busy, you see." Nudge answered from the port side. "Please leave a message and we'll contact you as soon as possible."

"You!" the sergeant pointed at Guru, who was just walking around some boats with a large black bag. "The creepy man who runs this place. Make this ship stay in harbor."

"No can do, Mr. Soldier." Guru said. "Their parking time is almost up. They were extremely cheap in that, and the sooner they leave, the better."

Thus, as quickly as they came in, they left Waarheid in favor of the seas, much to the chagrin of the soldiers who were just a step behind, shaking their fists furiously at them.

* * *

"So they managed to escape." Dante confirmed his suspicions with the sergeant in charge of the previous chase. "They managed to escape... on your charge?"

"Well... you see sir..." the sergeant stuttered and squirmed trying to relay the information to his leader. "We had... problems, sir. Most of the soldiers under me got lost... and we lacked the resources to... uh... to get them... and, uh... they didn't heed my warnings, and... we couldn't stop the intruders... and..."

"Such a shame to hear that." Dante said. "Do you know what this means to you, right?"

"I... Get demoted?" the sergeant shyly said, finishing up with the widest of smiles.

Dante laughed at the poor sergeant's try, but shook his head left and right in reaction. "No, no. You're only going to join me... in the basement."

The sergeant's gulp could be heard all through the emperor's place. He had heard the rumors of what happened in the bowels of the country of Waarheid, and now he was going to see if those rumors were indeed true. Whatever was down there, he already didn't like it. As both of them walked away from the office, the sergeant looked at the receptionist with puppy-dog eyes as he mouthed what could be his final expressions to a living human.

"Help me."

**To Be Continued**

...

...

(... I'm not dutch, BTW)


	5. The Search for Power

Where there are questions to be asked, REVIEW ANSWERIN' TIME never rests!

Ri2: I knew someone would ask. Chomps (or chain chomps if you're a Mario fan) appeared on LoZ: A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, and my putting them there was a nod to those games. As to where they came from, it's not too clear... but it was all Niko's idea to get some "special friends".

?: Then I won't! But if the humor flows naturally, then it'll come. Thanks for your response. I shall strive to improve.

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 5

The Search for Power

"I knew I'd find you here." Tetra said to Link, who she found was sitting squarely on the bowspirit of the ship. Link looked overly pensive as he stared down the waves crashing on the boat's hull. "You look like you've been thinking a lot. That's so unlike you." Link responded that remark with a quick playful jab of a stern look through his eyes, making Tetra chuckle in a slightly evil way. "So what's on your mind? Ever since we ran from that emperor, your face has been shouting expressions, and most of them aren't very happy."

Link just looked over at Tetra with a smiling face that felt more like a "don't worry" face than a sincere smile. Though he wanted to let out what was worrying him, some strange force within him stopped him short of uttering a word... fear, perhaps? Whatever the reason, he wouldn't outright speak of the matter, so he tried making mimicry with his arms to try and make Tetra understand.

"Uh... somewhere off board?" Tetra tried to guess, without much success. "Outside? What's outside?" Link shook his hands to stop her train of thought, then tried pointing out to the stern. "Is something wrong with the bridge? Further? I'm not good at charades, you know." Tetra kept guessing, to which Link kept pointing with more and more intensity. "Further back? Something we left behind? Something... back in land?"

Link immediately nodded, indicating Tetra had hit the subject in the nail. "Well... I know how you must fell, but..." Tetra began, lowering her voice to avoid being eavesdropped. "We had to leave. There's no way we're going to usurp the power the way we're now. We have to think up a new..." Link stuck his hand out, making her stop in her tracks. That was clearly not what he meant to remember. He motioned Tetra to try and remember a bit further ahead. Tetra thought about it a bit, then it struck her as to what it was that Link wanted to discuss. She knew all too well. "Oh, Link..." Tetra fumbled to find the right way to say this. She decided to sit on the bowspirit right next to Link. "I remember that chase. I mean... I don't remember where we went... and the noise kinda muted off... and it all became a blur... and we ended up crashing to a stop... but I do remember something. I don't know if you remember it as I do, but it wasn't exactly something you'd see... or hear..." Tetra trailed off, trying to explain this as best as she could with the limited experience she had. Eventually, she found herself looking down to the sea, much in the same way and expression as she found Link not too long ago, and when she caught herself, she quickly snapped off it. "Do you remember that I said to you that I've been having these weird thoughts crossing my mind?" She asked, to which Link nodded in remembrance. "Well... the thing is... those thoughts..."

Link looked at Tetra with what could be the most sincere, open face he could muster. There, for some reason, he knew what she was talking about... but he knew he shouldn't interfere at this point.

"These thoughts... were about you."

Link's eyes widened a bit. Knowing what was coming is one thing, but hearing it from the horse's mouth is always a different experience altogether. "D... Don't take it the wrong way. I told you these were weird thoughts that crossed my mind." Tetra stuttered, quickly downplaying any possible interpretations of her expressions. "But... I was just trying to clear it up in case you... in case you were..."

"MISS TETRA!"

"... Why did I not expect that?" Tetra muttered. "What? Is it important?" She yelled, not really wanting to get up from her seat.

"We found a stowaway! He said he knows you! He's..."

"Don't tell me..." Tetra cringed to think who it might be who sneaked into the ship. Sighing, she stood up and motioned at Link to get up as well. "I'm coming! Don't take out the 'cat' until I get there."

* * *

"You guys! My inspiration for my newest adventure epic! I knew I'd find you here!" the always eccentric Miyahon gleefully greeted the pair when they went over to the brig to see him. "Please tell your brutes this is just a misunderstanding. I'm no stalker... though you guys ARE what keep my creative juices flowing."

"OK!"Tetra yelled just in time. "I don't need to hear about any juices of yours. Just tell me why you decided to hitch a ride in my ship?"

"I had no choice!" Miyahon began, with a rather desperate look drawn upon his face. "I was being chased, too. Wanted! The guillotine awaited me if I stayed. They knew I knew, and I knew they knew I knew, and I knew they were looking for me, so I had to skedaddle, or I would be drawing up my drawings with paint from the deities themselves!"

The entire pirate crew stood dumbfounded by the stowaway's confession, unable to utter a word due to his... unique story. Their entire state of mind was sucessfully captured, though, by Zuko.

"... What?"

"Ok, I eavesdropped on you two when you were talking with the Emperor." Miyahon began again from the beginning. "By the way, very bad actingfrom you guys in front of him."

"Yeah... looking back, it wasn't my best... wait." Tetra caught on to something the inmate said. "The Emperor's office was in the mansion's third floor. How could you eavesdrop at all?"

"I had stilts." Miyahon said, smiling. This was met with the now usual annoyed stares of the crew.

"Really?" Tetra jabbed verbally at Miyahon. "Because this is the sort of thing that an average bum would have... and it's entirely normal to use them and eavesdrop... in the middle of the street?"

"Wait, wait!" Miyahon pleaded his case. "Remember I heard everything in there, and I know what you must do."

"You do?" Tetra asked, genuinely inquisitively so.

"Yeah! In order to defeat such enormous power, you need... MORE power!" Miyahon declared triumphantly.

This was met by blank, annoyed stares. "Why do I even bother?" Tetra said as she slowly walked away from the brig. Then, she felt a tug at her vest. She turned to see Link, his face lit up in glee. He motioned Tetra to stay put as he rushed out of the brig and towards his chest where he keeps all his possessions, like his picto box and this grappling hook. When he came back to the brig, he waved a pearl-white wand with shiny crystal scattered around it.

"That's your windy thing, right?" Niko asked, recognizing the Wind Waker conductor baton immediately, considering Link likes to keep it well maintained and he doesn't take it out much.

"So you're suggesting we go someplace where we could find this 'power' we need, right?" Tetra asked, to which Link nodded immediately.

Link took his stance and proceeded to conduct a song that would levitate the whole structure they were standing on and send it to...

"NO!" The lot of pirates yelled at the top of their lungs, rushing to pin Link down before he could finish conducting.

"Don't you remember the last time you tried to teleport the entire ship somewhere?" Senza scolded Link, making him remember a bad event that happened some months ago...

_YES, IT'S FLASHBACK TIME!_

*COUGH COUGH*

"All hands! Report!"

"I'm here!"

"I'm ok, but Mr. Badger isn't doing so well."

"I'm... dizzy..."

It was a disaster. The pirate ship hasn't seen such atrocity until then. The ship was on the verge of capsizing, water had poured in to every deck and every cabin of the ship, supplies were tossed around, crushed, wasted, thrown overboard, etc., powder was wet, sails were broken, and even the new paint job was cracked. All because Link thought to take a little 'magical' shortcut to their destination.

"I'll take THIS!" Tetra snarled while swiping the Wind Waker from Link's hand. Dripping wet and holding on to her pants to avoid another embarrassment on top of this one, she walked away from him and into the storage room. "Next time you get such a creative idea, keep it to yourself."

_END FLASHBACK!_

Link chuckled weakly when he realized what he almost repeated. He slowly tucked the baton back into his bag and proceeded to show his empty hands to the pirates to assure them there was no imminent danger with it.

"Thank goodness." Gonzo sighed in relief. "To think the new Mr. Badger would suffer like the old one..."

"But you know..." Tetra interjected, giving some thought into the idea. "I think he's in the right path. If he thinks we can get a lead wherever that could take us, we should take it." Tetra paced around the room thinking up how they could go about unfolding Link's plan. "I got it! Senza, prepare the rowboat for Link and I. Meanwhile, we will gather our supplies and we'll meet you on the top deck in half an hour. Let's go, Link."

"Wait, Miss Tetra!" Gonzo shouted before his leader left the brig. "What will we do with this stowaway?" He said, pointing to Miyahon, who sported one wickedly wide smile. Tetra looked at him and considered his options. In the end... she simply snapped her fingers.

* * *

"WWWWHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

"Wow, that's really high up." Niko commented, seeing Miyahon hanging from the mast like he was just a few days ago."I'm just glad it's not me for once."

"All right, listen up." Tetra began imparting the instructions. "Once Link and I touch water, we'll row away, while you guys sail away from us, too. Once we're far enough, Link will use his baton to get us where he thinks we can gather more info. Gonzo, as second-in-command, you'll be in charge while I'm gone."

"Aye aye, Captain." Gonzo agreed.

"Link doesn't think we'll have much trouble, so I hope we'll be back soon. Don't do anything reckless before I return." And leaving them with those words, Tetra hopped on the rowboat located by the port side, followed by Link. "Alright, take us... wait."

"What is it, Miss..." Nudge couldn't finish the sentence as Tetra hopped back out of the rowboat and ran indoors. "What was that about?" Then, as fast as she went inside the ship, she came back out, carrying the infamous book.

"Just thought it might come handy, in case this takes long and I get bored out of my wits." Tetra explained. "Ok, take us down."

"You heard her, men!" Gonzo shouted, almost too happy to start barking orders around. "Let 'er down steady!" Then the pirates slowly started to let go of the ropes that fastened the rowboat in the air, and through a rare display of true teamwork, they managed to get the boat down to the sea with no hitches. Tetra and Link quickly grabbed their rows and started rowing towards the stern of the pirate ship, where they would most likely gain some distance from the ship quicker as it sailed off. As the rowboat gained distance, the pirates on board of the ship gathered by the stern to wave them goodbye and wish them luck.

"Ok, I think this is far enough. Do your thing, Link." Tetra said as she secured the rows to avoid being blown off in the gust of wind that was sure to ensue. Link wasted no time to take out his Wind Waker and conduct the Ballad of Gales. The pleasant melody was a relative opposite to its results, as a large tornado formed right on top of the pair and engulfed them, making the rowboat spin counterclockwise wildly and forcing its passengers to hold on for dear life as the massively strong gusts of wind levitated the boat from the seas and onto the heavens, effectively disappearing from the pirates' view.

"So..." Niko commented. "How do you feel about being a more... permanent captain, Gonzo?"

* * *

"I feel sick..." Tetra mumbled as the boat was slowly coming to a stop. Having never really ridden the winds in such a manner, she was unprepared to face what this magical trip brought along. She didn't dare to open her eyes in fear her nausea would worsen and she would finally lose her lunch. Eventually, she opened her eyes and noticed something strange: Wherever they were, it was completely secluded in all parts by very tall stone walls. Furthermore, the resting place of their boat was a small pond that only had a small opening for the water to flow out, and no discernible way of where the water comes from. Around the pond there were trees and bushes scattered about, giving the place a feel of a small forest. "Where are we?" She turned to Link for an explanation... when she noticed he was looking straight at the water in the pond, splashing it gently with this left hand, as if in a teasing manner. "... And what are you doing?"

Suddenly, a sound foreign to her crossed her ears. It was laughter... childish laughter. She looked around, trying to find the source of the laughter... but she couldn't. It was everywhere. Not just up, or down, or by the trees or in the pond... everywhere. "Are... are you doing this?" Tetra asked Link, thinking up no other logical reason why there would be a strange laughter in the air.

"Stop it! That tickles!" The laughing voice shouted. Tetra kept looking around, freaking out about not pinpointing the source of the voice, while Link took his hand out of the pond with a smiling face, making the laughter stop. Then, from the waters in the pond, a silvery, shiny, childlike creature burst out and started floating right in front of the duo. "You tease. Must you tickle the Queen of the Fairies to get her attention?"

"So you were the one laughing just now?" Tetra asked the mythical creature in front of her.

"Yes, it was me." The silver creature cleared her throat and made a bow to her guests. "I am Venus, Queen of the Fairies. Yes, I know what you might be thinking. I'm only made to look like a child, though. Besides, you shouldn't judge because one is small and child-like."

"Eh... I wasn't really thinking that." Tetra said. "I'm still wondering why are you carrying that creepy doll around like that. And why don't you have irises on your eyes."

"Well..."

Link cleared his throat rather loudly to make the other two stop talking about nonsense. He then looked over at Tetra and motioned her to go on and ask her concerning what they came here for.

"Right... Fairy Queen, I am Tetra, and I have been charged by the Three Goddesses to create a new Hyrule due to my royal lineage that goes all the way to the old kings of Hyrule. In this quest, however, I have come across a... an obstacle, so to speak. Thus, we seek your help to gather a power stronger than that of our enemy to vanquish it and claim the chosen land for the new Hyrule."

The Fairy Queen took a good look at Tetra, who seemed to be standing a bit stiff while delivering her request. "Well... can you do me a favor and stop trying to be so stiff? Doesn't suit you at all." These words were of much surprise to Tetra, who was trying to show some respect, something she doesn't do often. "To tell you the truth, I'm not big on the whole 'holier than thou' bit most deities go with. I find it best when we can communicate freely with each other. Isn't that right, Linky?"

"Linky?" Tetra asked, with a confused look strewn upon her face. She alternated between looking at the Fairy and Link, the former simply floated there with a smile, while the latter looked all innocent shrugging in confusion as well.

"Oh, are you mean, Linky." Venus reprimanded the green garbed boy. "Even after I confessed myself to you, you simply ran off and left me all alone. You must be afraid of commitment." These harsh words got to Link, who was apparently trying to find a way to hide his red face in shame. "Or perhaps you already had someone else. Perhaps... her?"

"WHAT!?" Tetra shouted in shock, upon seeing she was the one being pointed at by the Fairy Queen. "Why would I ever... I'm not into goody two-shoes like... To even suggest that I would... You better listen good here and stop slandering!"

Venus floated about while Tetra's outburst happened, her happy face transformed into one of deep thinking. "Hmm... Now I see what the Goddesses have to work with."

"What?"

"You're not being honest." The Fairy Queen said. Before Tetra could edge out a word in protest, she stopped her cold and continued. "You're still hiding, even after you tried to do what was asked of you, you didn't look into yourself for strength. You say you trust others, but you can't even trust yourself. If you were to just follow the book that was given to you and develop more confidence in your inner power, you would be done already."

"Book... you mean this one?" Tetra said as she pulled out the ancient book with the Hyrulean crest in its front. "We tried looking over it, but most of it was just history about Hyrule, some descriptions on races, some legends... and a few torn pages, nothing big."

"Torn pages? Let me see." Venus didn't wait for the book to be handed to her and used her magic to swipe the book from Tetra's hands. She flipped the pages over and over and noticed the awful truth: pages that were supposed to have essential information for Tetra were torn away, their locations unknown to anybody and no clue left inside about their whereabouts. "This is not good. Those torn pages were very important. If you don't even have a clue what they contained, then... then you're going into this quest like a blind person into a dark cave full of pitfalls. It's just not possible."

Link looked quite worried at the news, while Tetra kept thinking about what this whole deal meant. "So, without those pages, it's pretty much over. Is that what you're telling us?"

"Pretty much."

"... Well, what can you do? We tried, at least. Come on, Link. It's back to pillaging, plundering and adventuring to us, like it's always been." Tetra said without doing so much as to bat an eye in worry. Link was shocked, and tried to get Tetra to reconsider before throwing the towel. "Don't you get it, dummy? This was a wild goose chase from the beginning. It was a quest we couldn't finish. The Goddesses were playing tricks with us just for their own amusement. Besides, that Dante got it right: much of the city loves him. So if they want a tyrannical despot that could snap at any minute and destroy their lives, that's fine by me. I'll just stick with my ocean. That's worked good enough for me." She then made to grab her row when she remembered they were in a small pond surrounded by large stone walls. "And if you could hurry it up with that baton of yours..."

Amongst this burst from Tetra, The Fairy Queen simply stood, thinking about a possible alternate method to make this quest succeed. "Maybe... maybe if we had that compass. The Goddesses' Compass..."

"The compass?" Tetra blurted out, looking at her item bag on the floor of the boat, where the compass lay. "What about it?"

"It's a compass that points to where you need to go next." Venus explained. "It's very handy when you get lost. Nayru always tells us how she used it when she got lost in a time loop in a strange clock land, and were it not for it, she wold still be trying to find the way out of there."

Tetra thought about it for a while. If she left as is, this would be over, nothing else could be done, and everything would go back to the way things were. However, considering she had the resources to at least try once more, and considering she had already given her word to the Goddesses themselves, she knew there would be consequences if she didn't do her best. Knowing this, she turned her back to the Fairy Queen once more... and crouched to look into her bag for the item of the day.

"Ok, I'll bite." Tetra said, pulling out the Goddesses' Compass from her bag and showing it to the Fairy Queen. "Here's the compass. What can you do with it?"

"You have it? Great!" Venus was overjoyed to know this. She quickly took the compass with her magic and placed it on top of the book. "Now, a little incantation." The Queen of the Fairies moved the Great Fairy doll she always carried and like a puppeteer, quietly speaking some words in ancient Hylian while the Great Fairy doll let out sparkles of several colors which converged around the two items in front of her. These items then emitted a soft glow, proving the magic was working. Afterwards, the items were slowly lowered to the hands of Link and Tetra, giving the book to Link and the compass to Tetra.

"The Goddesses' Compass has been enhanced." The Fairy Queen stated. "Now, it shall point to the direction of the missing pages of the book." Tetra took a good look at the compass in her hands. It hadn't changed a bit, but it looked like it was indeed pointing somewhere other than the 'promised land'. "Find the missing pages and understand their words. They will instruct you on your path to become the true heir of the Royal Family."

"Well... thanks." Tetra said, not knowing exactly what to say at the moment. "I, uh, guess we'll be going now, right, Link?"

"Hey... Tetra, was it?" Venus called the young captain before she would disappear. "Take care of Linky in my absence."

"Eh... right." Tetra said, Still cringing at at the mere thought of what could be crossing the Fairy Queen's mind.

"Oh, and also..." Venus said. "Be more honest with yourself. It will save you a lot of headaches."

Thus, with no more words exchanged, Tetra stuffed the compass and the book back in her bag and held fast to the boat in full knowledge of what was coming. Link then conducted the Ballad of Gales once more, summoning a great tornado to pick them up from the pond and carry them through the skies.

* * *

"Keep a sharp eye, Zuko! We don't know where they'll come from." Gonzo shouted to the short stoic man keeping a lookout atop the crow's nest.

"So... what if they don't come back anytime soon?" Niko asked as he stood around the bow looking at the horizon for any signs of life.

"Well... we could keep looking a while. But we'll eventually have to return to land for supplies and... to do what we do best." Senza explained to the young pirate.

"So we'd go on even without Miss Tetra?"

"Miss Tetra has leaded us well, that's true..." Mako interjected, "...but we don't depend on her. We're very independent, and we can do everything our captain knows how to do. If push comes to shove, the Great Sea Pirates will live on, and Gonzo will most likely take over as captain."

"...That's a scary thought." Niko commented, looking over at the ship's second-in-command walking on deck.

"Well, you're not exactly easy on the eyes, you know!" Gonzo shouted at the crew gathered on the bow, ensuing light laughter from the men.

"Dinghy... off the starboard!" Zuko shouted over from the crow's nest to the crew down below. "Two yellow heads on board. Looks like our yellow heads... It also looks like one of the yellow heads is looking at the sea, as if seasick. Must be Link... "

"Mr. Senza, take us starboard side! Unfold the sails, men! Get ready to carry the boat back inside." Gonzo immediately barked his orders, to which the crew promptly acted upon. Within a matter of minutes, the ship was near the boat that Tetra and Link were using. "Oy! Miss Tetra!" Gonzo shouted from the bow, trying to reach his captain's ears and get a response. Tetra responded by waving her arm around.

A short time later, the crew fastened the boat to the ropes designed to lift it up and, with great group effort, they pulled the ship back up. Immediately afterwards, Tetra jumped right on deck, literally kissing the floorboards and trying to move as far away from the boat as possible. She then looked over at a curious Link who was calmly getting off the boat. "How you did so many travels with that tornado is beyond me, but as far as I know, if I never need to use it, it'll be too soon."

The pirates kept looking back and forth at Link and Tetra, wondering what exactly happened that could make their captain react like that. "So..." Gonzo approached Tetra carefully as to not upset her. "Do we have a heading?"

Upon hearing this, Tetra remembered the compass, and took it out to compare it with her personal compass. Clearly, the Goddesses' Compass was pointing westbount, in a different direction from Waarheid.

"Oh, yes, we have."

* * *

"Whoa." That was all Zuko could manage to utter upon gazing at the immense structure in front of him. A large ancient castle stood alone in a small island, completely unreachable in all areas except a small shore in which they stood now. Its drawbridge was broken and looked unsafe, but was surprisingly sturdy, its walls were yellowed by the beating time and the elements gave them, its great design which almost enveloped the island stood strong despite the punishment though.

"So, this is the place?" Nudge asked.

"That's what the compass tells us." Tetra answered, double-checking the compass to make sure they had the right place. "That missing page must be somewhere inside this abandoned castle. We'll go in, separate in teams of two, and search every corner for it."

"But, wouldn't it be easier to just follow the compass?" Gonzo asked.

"...Maybe." Tetra admitted to not having the best of plans. "I'll tell you what: We'll follow the compass, but if the castle becomes too confusing, we'll split. Is that good enough?"

"Works for me." Senza said.

Thus, the group started walking towards the old castle, Tetra and Link taking the lead and the rest following close by. Link decided to dash ahead and scout for any possible dangers at the entrance, then gave the ok to the crew to continue. "Sometimes I wonder about you..." Tetra said when she passed him by, entering the castle.

"You know, Miss..." Mako began, "...I can't shake this feeling, but there's something not right about this castle... like if there was something still..."

*KA-POW!*

Suddenly, a door sprang from the entrance and fell down with the intensity of a thousand horses, effectively locking the pirate crew out of the castle, separated from Tetra and Link.

"What... the... f..."

"...fulminating heart attack!!!" Tetra finished her yelling at the inanimate object that scared her spitless. Breathing heavily and with eyes almost bulging out, she walked over to the random door and kicked it hard, as if to try and teach it a lesson. "That's for trying to kill me."

"MISS TETRA!!" Gonzo shouted at the top of his lungs to see if his voice could reach. "CAN YOU HEAR ME!!?"

"YEAH!!" Tetra responded, her voice being awfully faint for someone who was shouting out loud... at least, that's how she sounded from the outside of the castle. "I GUESS LINK AND I WILL HAVE TO CONTINUE ON OUR OWN!! YOU GUYS TRY AND FIND A WAY INSIDE AND JOIN US!!"

"OK!!" Gonzo shouted to Tetra, then turned to the rest of the crew. "Quick, back to the ship! Bring a keg of powder to blow this door to smithereens!" He ordered, to which the crew acted upon promptly.

"Why is it that all our solutions devolve to blowing stuff up?" Mako commented.

"Well..." Tetra said to Link as she took a good look at the small corridor they were in, locked from the outside world with no way to go but further in. "I guess it's time for another one of your spelunking adventures."

Link wanted to correct her, but thought better of it. After all, calling it 'dungeon' or 'spelunking' didn't really matter. It was just another excuse to do some honest-to-goodness adventuring. And where else to do it than on:

**The Abandoned Castle**

(Ooooh...)

Tetra and Link wasted no time to run to the next room in the castle. The room was lush with forgotten decorations like fancy sofas, large paintings, a ridiculously long rug, and chandeliers with an almost-endless amount of crystals in it. It would look absolutely beautiful were it not for all the dust and grime that had settled in all the decades the castle has been deserted.

"Well, this sure is inviting..." Tetra said rather sarcastically. She then noticed something sticking out from behind a sofa: it was the arm part of a skeleton. "... Really inviting indeed..." She turned to Link to try and show him her finding, but when she got his attention, the arm was not there anymore. Link decided to look around and left Tetra to wait in the center of the room. He looked behind the sofa, but found nothing except dust and some stones. He signaled to Tetra that there was nothing there, making the young captain wonder if her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. Suddenly, Link's eyes bulged out. He tried to tell something to Tetra, but his stammering was so powerful, he could barely utter a sound. His wild arm flailing wasn't helping much, either.

"And what bit him?" Tetra wondered, as the thoughts from before still ran through her mind. Then, from the corner of her right eye, something odd crept in. She turned right to see the very same skeleton arm that she saw before, only this time, it was attached to the rest of the skeleton, and said skeleton was standing dangerously close to her. Tetra began stammering as well, as her proximity with the skeleton proved too great a shock for her. "S... s... s... s... s... stal... fos..."

Before she could react, the Stalfos swung his bony arm and clubbed Tetra square in her skull, making her fall down to the floor, and even open up a cut in her head. "Stupid bag of bones... I'll get 'im" Tetra said while wiping the blood from her cut.

Upon witnessing this, Link immediately jumped out of his shock, drew out his sword and ran straight for the Stalfos. Luckily, the skeleton was a slow mover, so it was easy for him to strike at it, thereby removing the right arm and some other bones out of the main skeleton. Before Link could celebrate, though, the bones were floating in midair around the Stalfos, and were attached back to the original skeleton again.

"Just great. He loves to regenerate." Tetra commented. "I guess we just have to be quicker than him, Link." Getting off from the floor, Tetra pulled out her sabre and stood beside Link, ready to fight. "Ready? You take the left, I take the right."

What happened next was a blur of swords, bones and the dust picking up from the fight. Link and Tetra went at the Stalfos with intensity and fury, making sure they got every piece of the skeleton severed before he could try and regenerate. After much effort, all the pieces were down to the floor, from the toes on the foot to the skull above the shoulders, everything was down on the floor.

"Well, we did it, partner." Tetra said to Link, pulling out her trademark winking smirk. "Now, how about we get going? Where could that exit be?" After looking around, she saw door almost hidden on the mezzanine atop them. Problem was, there wasn't a way to get up there normally. The wall was surprisingly unharmed, there were no vines to climb on, no ladders... the only thing up there was a chandelier, paintings... and a wooden sofa. Suddenly, Link had an idea. He pulled out his hookshot and aimed it at the sofa. Without thinking, he pulled himself upward to the mezzanine, landing safely on the couch. As soon as he did that, though, spikes protruded from the edges of the wall that raised the mezzanine, keeping Link and Tetra separated. Link was already on edge, but it turned out that Tetra was the target... of a vengeful Stalfos.

"What? Didn't I kill you already?" Tetra shouted when she looked back to see the reformed Stalfos right by her. Before she could react, the skeleton swung his arm and conked Tetra on the skull again, making her stumble around and fall down to her knees. "This thing wants me dead. I'm not giving 'im the pleasure, though." She said as she wiped off some blood from the reactivated gash in her head. She unsheathed he sabre once more and went to fight against the Stalfos, this time completely alone.

Link wanted to help, but those massive spikes that almost touch the ceiling had a way of making that rather difficult. Thus, he could do nothing except stand silent as he witnessed the fight going below him. Tetra tried to destroy the Stalfos' arms, but before she could go for another part of the body, the Stalfos was already recovering his upper limbs. Tetra was sweating up a storm, and the bloody gash on her head wasn't exactly helping her concentrate either. If there was some trick to defeating this stubborn skeleton, she would love to know.

Then, Link remembered something. It was a long time since he's fought Stalfos, but he finally remembered there was a trick to them. Immediately, he started to try and draw Tetra's attention to himself. Whenever Tetra managed to look in his direction, he pointed intensely at his head and used his sword to simulate slicing the head in half. While Tetra moved cautiously around the room she thought on what was it that Link wanted to tell her. She then remembered what they did before: They severed every piece of the Stalfos... but the skull remained intact. "The skull... All right. Now we're talking!" Putting on her fight face, Tetra waited until the Stalfos started swinging his bulky, strong arms again. Before it could strike, though, she jumped over it and sliced the skull in half. Then, before their very eyes, the bones of the Stalfos were no longer bound by any sort of magic and dropped down to the floor, all at once, right before evaporating and transforming into part of the dust that already decorated the halls of this castle.

Thus, as sudden as they appeared, the spikes holding Link back retreated to their original location, allowing Link to drop down to where Tetra was. He looked straight at the wound on Tetra's head, and proceeded to take out a cloth to cover it. "What? You're worried about this little thing?" Tetra said, giving no big importance to the fact that she was hit twice in the same spot, producing a blood-trickling wound. "That's nothing. I've had worse, but I won't bore you with my scars." Tetra looked up to the mezzanine with a pensive look. "What I'm more worried about is how will we get up from here. I mean, _you_ can get up, but not both of... HEY!"

Before she knew it, Link grabbed Tetra by her hip with one arm and aimed his hookshot with the other. Without thinking, he pulled himself upwards, carrying Tetra along, and falling safely on the sofa. "Guh... what did just...? Link!" Tetra managed to utter. "Next time you want to do something like that, at least warn me first!" Link simply shrugged the reprimand off and continued to walk towards the door. "Hey! Wait! Don't you dare leave me behind!"

Having crossed the door, they find themselves with something rather odd for a castle to have: A large pit right across them, and several alcoves to the left and right of it, going all the way to the other side, and a large steel bar high up crossing the entire corridor straight on the middle. "How do you expect us to get across this?" Tetra protested. "I can't believe this exists. What is this room, the athletic weirdos room?"She walked around the floor they were for a short while, thinking about what they could do, when...

"KYAAAA!"

Link rushed over to where Tetra was to see she had fallen down a hole. Worried, he stuck his head into the hole to notice it wasn't that deep a hole. Sure it was deep enough to not let anybody go back up, but it wasn't so deep as to procure serious injury. "Ow... I must have woken up from the wrong side of the bed today." Tetra complained as she rubbed her back in pain. Standing up, she noticed a rather tight-looking opening right in front of her. "Wait... I think I found a way through. I'll follow it. Wait there." For a while, Tetra was completely out of Link's reach for a while. He looked around the area, but couldn't find anything else of worth... except perhaps another hole across the way from the original. Perhaps it was the same, with another corridor to go through. Before he could explore, though, Tetra surfaced in the closest alcove to the left of this long and dangerous corridor.

"Ok... This was not too productive. I'm stuck... again." Tetra said, looking at the flat wall right in front of her. "She paced a bit in the small alcove and triggered a switch... but it was not for her benefit, since it opened a piece of the wall that was before her on the left side. Link thought about this and got a hunch. Before you could say 'Octorok soufflé', the kid in green jumped into the other hole and went through the tight corridor, eventually coming out an alcove on the right ride, somewhat closer to the entrance and facing the newly opened alcove. He also discovered a switch on the floor, which he promptly stepped on, causing the wall in front of Tetra to open up and reveal a new alcove/corridor. "This is a step up. Nice thinking, Link." Tetra complimented her partner. Looking up to the steel bar, she took out her grappling hook and swung to the other alcove, leading to another corridor. Seeing this, Link copied Tetra's moves and swung to the alcove in front of him. When the duo resurfaced, they were once again on opposite sides of the corridor, facing a stone wall, but thus time there was no switch to

trigger.

"Ok, now what?" Tetra wondered, seeing nothing but the slightly cracked wall in front of her. Wait... if it's slightly cracked, then we could blow it up, she though. One problem, though: there was no place for set the bomb, since it would just fall down the pit. After thinking it over, she came up with a brilliant idea. She took out an arrow and tied a bomb to it, then carefully aimed at the wall with the bow. Satisfied, she lit the bomb's fuse, aimed it at the wall, shot... and the wall came crumbling down in an explosion of debris and dust, revealing the hidden path to take. "Go on, Link. Try it! I know you want to." Link stared off at Tetra with a faux-angry look as she swung over to the other side. He then copied Tetra's technique and blew the wall in front of him.

After going down the corridors, they finally found themselves within respectable distance from the other side. In front of each other lay a chest, and when they opened it, they found a weird metallic object. "What the heck is this?" Tetra asked when examining the strange rod she had taken. This 'rod' had strange marking all around, and it looked like there were missing pieces in some places. "This is odd... what did you find?" She asked Link, only to be shown a very similar rod with markings around it and looking like it was broken in places. "Well, that's just great. More useless junk. Well, maybe we can sell them. Let's hold on to them for a while, ok?" she said as she stuffed her 'treasure' into her bag and proceeded to swing to the alcove in front of her.

When the duo resurfaced for the final time, they were long gone from the pit room, and were now in a room far less dangerous and more tidy than the ones they were before, and it was no coincidence. "This is the throne room." Tetra said as she marveled on the lush thrones at the end of the room and the luxurious adornments around it. The majesty of it all was overwhelming: the gold-plated columns leaded the way to the thrones, complemented by the thick red rug which looked like no one had stepped on it at all, the walls were absolutely lush and spotless, and the paintings hanging by them were exquisitely painted... yet they bore no people within its canvas, almost as if there was no history of the people who inhabited the castle.

The thrones themselves were of an intense fire red and filled to the brim with cushions, and they were almost obscenely large. "Perhaps they were dealing with a really, really fat king." Tetra commented. "I wonder if this was of any comfort to him. Let me check." Then Tetra went and tried to sit on the largest throne in the room. She looked absolutely diminutive as she climbed the towering chair, so much it was almost cute. Link couldn't help but stifle a chuckle as he saw Tetra sitting on the throne and not even being capable of reaching any of the sides from the center. "Well, if you think it's so funny, then try climbing the other." Tetra dared her partner. Unbeknown to her, the other throne was quite smaller and took Link a lot less effort than it would have to sit in. "Show-off." Tetra retorted to Link's simple accomplished face.

"You know, Link... there's been something that's been troubling me." Tetra said. "Everybody seems to enjoy giving me speeches. The Goddesses, the Queen of the Fairies -who seems to enjoy your presence a bit too much, mind you-, and even that Dante guy. Everybody wants to tell me what I'm supposed to do, as if I didn't already know that. Do they really need to keep telling me what I need to do?" She turned over to Link, expecting a response. He thought about it for a moment, and he was ready to respond. He opened his mouth and... "I know what you're gonna tell me." Tetra interrupted. "It's probably happened to you loads of times, and it's routine for you. But everybody telling me what to do... it gets on my nerve. I know I need to fulfill this destiny, I know I need to grow more powerful, I know what it means to be more honest... I'm just one person. I can't do all this overnight. I simply can't. Who do they..." She stopped cold, looking over at Link who was looking rather intrigued by the whole situation. "You didn't need to listen to me rambling like that." Tetra said, to which Link merely shrugged it off, with that ever-smiling face of his.

Just then, the thrones seemed to cave into the floor, startling Link and Tetra for a second. "What was..." Before Tetra could finish her sentence, though, the ceiling opened, and a large platform descended from the hole above. On the platform was a table, where a two identical small chests lay. Curious, Link and Tetra walked over to the platform that descended on the middle of the room and explored the chests' contents.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Tetra said when she saw the 'treasure' inside the chests. It was a glove... a single glove each. And each glove was colored differently: Tetra got a light blue glove, while Link found a green glove. "They don't even combine! Is that really all there is?" Tetra said as she looked into the small chest to find if there was anything else. As she was about to give up, Tetra found a small piece of paper. In the paper, a small message was written, and it read:

"_You have discovered the Magical Gloves. Alone, they can enhance your magical ability, but together, their power will be increased tenfold. However, a person alone cannot realize the full potential of the Magical Gloves..."_

"Link..." Tetra called. "You can use some magic, right?" Link nodded positively. "Then it's best if you keep a glove. I don't much about magic, but it's best if I keep the other... just in case."

Just then, a clicking sound grabbed the duo's attention. They noticed how the thrones were setting themselves back up, which could only mean one thing. "Hang on, Link. We're going up." When they reached the top floor of the castle, they were in a small, dimly lit room with only a door in front of them. "Well, if this isn't obviously ominous enough..." Tetra commented. "Well, no use standing here. Let's brave the storm and get what we came here for." She then slowly reached for the handle, turned it, and opened the door to see...

A large round room with an equally round table in the middle. This room had a different feel than the previous rooms they had been in. There was none of the lush, luxurious designs from the previous rooms. Instead, it was all business in that room: a plain round table, a couple of bookshelves with a handful of books in less-than-acceptable conditions, and pretty much every chair surrounding the table was broken in some way of from... every chair, except one at the opposite part of the table from where Link and Tetra were. In that chair a suit of armor rested, completely immobile.

"Ok, this it too obvious." Tetra said, jumping over to the table and walking over to the armor. "Hey, you! You're the guardian of this place right? Wake up and save us the tension, why don't ya?" Even with her talking straight at the armor's helm, the metal suit didn't budge. "Oh, that's how you're gonna work? Then I'll make the first move. Enguarde!" Tetra whipped out her sabre and swiftly swung it to the armor's throat area, making it fall down to the floor and having it break in pretty much every piece, revealing...

"...nothing. It's empty." Tetra said, her face filling with terror seeing that she was dreadfully wrong. "If he's not the guardian, then... who... is..."

Suddenly, the table started shaking violently. Before she could get tossed out, Tetra jumped off right as the table started to float off the ground. Its planks broke and moved and transformed into a large round monster with short, thick limbs, a flat, round body and -surprisingly- no face, just before floating back down, effectively separating Tetra and Link and making its final adjustments to become:

Possessed Ancient Table:

**MESABALLEON**

"Ok... you got me, man... table... monster... thing." Tetra stuttered to say. "So... Link. Any ideas?"

From the other side of the room, Link shrugged as no ideas popped on his head at the moment. Thus, for a good while, the duo did nothing except try and dodge Mesaballeon's attacks and regroup, with not much success on that second account. Every time one tried to go around Mesaballeon, the monster would just roll over and block the way. "I can't just go around dodging forever. Time to chop some wood!" Tetra then pulled out her sabre triumphantly and ran straight for the monster and planted her blade on it, causing it to growl deeply. Tetra smiled... but her smile didn't last long as she couldn't pull her sabre out of the wood, no matter how hard she tried. While she was trying to pull her sabre out, one of the monster's limbs swiped at her, and if she wasn't quick enough to see it, she would have been knocked straight to the wall. "I definitely woke up from the wrong side of the bed." She commented.

Then, Link thought up of a brilliant idea. He pulled out his bow and arrows, and started to power the arrow with fire magic. If the monster is made of wood, some fire can bring it down, he thought. So he aimed, fired... and Mesaballeon just swatted the fire arrow like it were a fly. Link was shocked. How could he not even scratch such a large target? Well, if normal magic couldn't take him on, what would?

"Link, what's happening on your side?" Tetra asked. "I need updates... and a way to pry that sabre out of that thing." She then saw some red lights coming from the other side, and decided to look under the monster and see what Link was doing. "You're throwing fire at 'im. Any success?" She asked, to which Link promptly shook his head. "Hmm... what if..." Tetra mused over their options to battle the monster, often shaking her head for thinking such ridiculous 'strategies'. "And if we... use... something to improve... improve, enhance... enhance magic... Ah! Of course! How stupid of me." She turned to Link, and pulling out her blue glove, she pointed at it and shouted. "Use the force of the glove, Link!"

Having been notified, Link let go of the bow for a second, he outfitted himself with his green Magical Glove and picked up the bow again. This time, as he charged his bow with fire magic, the flames surrounding the arrow grew considerably. He aimed, fired... and Mesaballeon swatted the arrow like it was a fly. Shocked, Link was completely lost and totally out of any suitable idea. However, something did change this time: Mesaballeon's 'hand' was catching fire, and as soon as the monster found out, he let out a nasty low growl and was unable to control his movements. "It's my turn now." Tetra declared and she pulled out her bomb arrows and shot one straight in the middle of Mesaballeon. The blast from the attack brought a couple of planks from Mesaballeon, but didn't made him suffer severe damage. She decided to take the moment and join Link at his side and battle together. "So, what now? We got a lead, but if we keep up this strategy, we'll run out of ammo before we do some good damage." Tetra said.

Link then got a good idea. It was dangerous, but it was well worth the risk if it worked. He took one of his arrows and one of Tetra's bomb arrows, made like he threw his arrow first, then like he threw Tetra's at the same place. "Oh, I get it!" Tetra said, joyful. Suddenly, the realization of the danger hit her. "Wait... we could get blown up good if we're not careful. Are you sure of this?" Link shrugged a bit, his uncertainty could be easily seen on his face and body language. "I'm glad you're so sure of this." Tetra said, her voice growing jittery.

Just then, Mesaballeon recovered from the attack and began aiming its limbs at Link and Tetra, shooting a hive of splinters at deadly speed. Once again, Link's shield provided the tight refuge for the duo from the assault. As soon as they got a clear shot, Link powered up his arrow with fire magic and threw it straight at the center of the monster's body. Mesaballeon could not move fast enough. It was a direct hit! The center of the monster's body was burning by the flames of the fire arrow. Now Tetra was to throw the bomb arrow right into the fire for maximum damage... but her pulse was failing her, and she could not aim well enough. Her uncertainty was getting the better of her. Just then, like magic, the aim turned steady again. When she saw, Link was holding her arms to allow her a better aim. Then, for the briefest of moments, her uncertainty was gone. She and Link aimed the bomb arrow and let it go straight to the raging flames in the center of the monster.

*BOOM!!!*

The explosion was so tremendous, the duo thought they were going to lose their hearing just from it. The debris of wood rained down ferociously, crashing down to the floor and threatening to get the guys down there. Finally when all was calm and quiet, Tetra looked up from the safety of her arms to notice how the monster was not standing anymore. She then looked at Link, who did a valiant job of putting up his shield to protect them both from the debris. "Heh. It's times like these when I really feel alive. How about you, Link?" She commented, just to be greeted by a sly smile from Link. Then, right in front of them, a heart container floated inconspicuously, waiting to be picked up. So, Tetra did just that... but the container split in half upon contact. "Just like last time. Weird... but I'll take it." Among the falling debris, Tetra also spotted her sabre, still lodged on some wood, but at least it was small enough to loosen it off. "My sabre! I missed you in battle." She then thought about what that meant for a second. "Man, I need to spice up my battle skills."

Looking around the debris, Link and Tetra discovered a small door right where the table/monster laid before they entered. Link tried opening the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked, eh?" Tetra said. "And our monster wasn't kind enough to give us the key this time." They then examined the keyhole. It was strange, in that the 'keyhole' was totally round, and quite large at that. "So... did you see a key like that on our way in, Link?" She turned to her partner, and he simply shook his head. "Yeah, me neither. The only thing we found was an annoying Stalfos, a jumping exercise, some odd rods, the gloves, and... the rods." She slapped herself for being so absent-minded. "Link, let me see that rod-thing you found." Link looked around his bag and found the weird object from before. He didn't understood the use clearly before, but it seemed like he was starting to join Tetra's thought process in this as he gave her the object. It didn't take long before she figured out how the rods went together to form one rod/key. She promptly tried the new key on the key hole... "Perfect fit." They key didn't even need to be turned, because the door was unlocked as soon as the rod got in all the way. Link opened the door, and inside there was a handful of treasure -not nearly as much as last time, but a good share nevertheless- and a box. Tetra took the box and opened it. As she had imagined, inside the box was a torn page from the mythical book. "Great. Now that we have the page, we're done with this place. Let's pick up the treasure and find a way out of here."

* * *

*BOOM*

After blowing up the platform that left them stuck on the top floor, Tetra and Link gently glided back to the throne room with the Deku Leaf. Once they touched ground, they looked around to see if they could find any real way out. Suddenly...

*BANG!!*

*CRASH!!*

"Miss Tetra! Are you there!"

"You idiots!!!" Tetra lashed out at the pirates who just blew out a hole into the throne room's wall with the ship's cannons. "Is blowing stuff up the only thing you can do!?"

The pirates looked around at each other with a puzzled look in their faces, then turned to Tetra. "But it's what we do." Gonzo said.

"Just forget it." Tetra said. "We're going down. Wait right there." Then, Link and Tetra held on to the Deku Leaf with one hand, and held the treasure with the other, took a few steps back, then rushed out their new escape route. Working in tandem, Link and Tetra floated gently down from the castle right to the ship's main sail, leading to them sliding down to the deck with great force and scattering the treasure all over. Link and Tetra looked at each other, barely containing their laughter despite the tense moments lived just moments ago.

"So... you're done?" Nudge asked.

"Yeah, we're done." Tetra confirmed. Looking at the golden skies, she figured they had been adventuring for plenty of time. "We're done for the day, boys. Let's grab some grub and cast off this dreadful place. The less I see of it, the better."

* * *

That night...

"Captain! Captain!"

"What's all the jammerin' about, sailor?"

"Ship ahoy northwest of here! Looks like our bounty, sir."

"Really, now? Timoneer, take us northwest smoothly. Do not wake a fly, gentlemen. We shall give them a wake up call they'll never forget!"

**To Be Continued**


	6. High Seas War Games

There's good times, great times, and then there's REVIEW ANSWERIN' time.

Ri2: Venus was fun to write. Glad you like my interpretation of her. And what about the evil table? Zelda's got evil pottery and floors before (See: darn near every 2D Zelda game... and some 3D ones), a table isn't so farfetched.

?: Boss idea? Out of frickin' nowhere! Initially, the suit of armor WAS the boss, but then I thought it was too obvious (a sentiment I expressed through Tetra), so I thought "let's throw them a curveball." As for the name, that took me hours, but I finally settled on Mesaballeon, which is a contraction of two spanish words: Mesa (table), and **ca**balle**r**o (knight). So essentially, its name in english is "Knight's table". Further proof that naming is not as awesome if one has to explain it.

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 6

High Seas War Games

"So, Link..." Tetra began. " Have you ever wondered how life would be if we hadn't crossed paths? If you didn't choose to become a great hero? If I decided not to continue with my mother's pirate crew?"

The setting couldn't be better. An idyllic prairie served as the backdrop for the adventurers' resting place. The grass felt soft and gentle to the touch of their bare feet. The air brought a calming breeze across their faces, with their hair fluttering in rhythm. The white cotton clouds floated gently on the skies, slowly transforming into different and oftentimes amusing forms. In short, the overall place could best be described as perfect. Here, Link and Tetra lay one beside the other, looking straight at the pristine blue sky and letting their thoughts wander about with the breeze.

"I mean, I know you were shoehorned into this whole hero business, what with your sister and all... but what if that never happened, you didn't need to become a hero and you had the golden opportunity to stay in your little island with your family. Have you ever wondered that?"

Link's eyes raised up, as if trying to look straight at his forehead, deep in thought. Tetra's musings have given him much food for thought. All he had done, he's probably done instinctively and without much way for second thought. In light of this new angle, though, he sat up on the ground indian-style and looked over at Tetra for a while. Sensing his gaze over her, Tetra turned slightly to the left and supported her head on her hand to give Link her undivided attention.

"Well, I..." Link began to bring his thoughts in order to answer his blonde companion. "I think I would rather..."

"_**DIE!**_"

The sudden distorted voice and bleached stare in Link's face came as a perturbing shock to Tetra. She had no time to stand up and scurried backwards in a sitting position, instinctively trying to get away from a hollow-eyed Link who stood up and was slowly walking towards her. He unsheathed his sword and prepared his shield as he made his way towards Tetra.

"Link, what are you doing?" Tetra questioned as she kept trying to find a way to distance herself from the apparently possessed guy in front of her. As a last-ditch effort, she appealed to her rank to have him desist. "As your captain, I order you to sheathe your sword. I said now, Link! If you don't stop now, so help me, you'll walk the plank." Her words fell on deaf ears, as Link crept further ahead, gripping his sword tightly and readying his arm for a stabbing motion.

Tetra tried hard to gain some distance from Link despite the mobility disadvantage, but unfortunately it was for naught, as her back bumped on a large tree, stunting her movements long enough for Link to catch up to her. The young captain looked in shock as the scenery surrounding Link changed from the peaceful shades of green and blue to the horrific vortex of crimson red and pitch black, whereas Link herself turned into darker and darker shades, until only his vacant stare was recognizable among the darkness behind him. Helplessly frightened, Tetra shut her eyes tightly and prayed it wouldn't end tragically.

"_**I... WOULD... RATHER...**_"

*GONG!*

"_**I... I would... I'd...**_"

*GONG!*

"I... I... I... I... I... "

*GONG!*

Tetra opened her eyes at the sound of the third gong to only find herself laying down on her bed, facing an aged wooden wall. It was another one of those. Those weird "thoughts" she's been having. Ever since she's accepted her destiny (so to speak), her dreams have shifted from the hide-and-seek variety to a more grim tone of death, and basically all of them have starred Link and herself for some strange reason. If she remembered something from the ancient Hyrulean book, it was said that her female ancestors often had prophetic dreams. The recurring dreams before lead her to her encounter with the Goddesses, so could _these_ recurring dreams lead her to something? Should she even think about it now? She decided not to give it further thought.

After all, a more pressing matter has presented itself.

* * *

"ALL HANDS ON STATIONS!! READY YOUR WEAPONS!! PREPARE THE CANNONS!! KEEP THE WIND ON OUR SIDE!! DO NOT LET THEM OVERBEAR US!!"

Gonzo barked out a myriad of orders to a rushing crew, half of which still barely understood what the deal was all about in this otherwise gorgeous moonlit night. Niko and Mako were charged with sharpening the sabres and loading the guns with bullets, while Zuko and Nudge rolled the kegs of gunpowder to the cannons and outfitted them with the explosive powder and cannon balls, and Senza took over navigational duties. Gonzo was no exception, tightening up all support ropes and sails to make sure no mishaps happened during their flight, all while making sure everybody else finished their jobs.

During this chaos, Tetra emerged from below deck, finding no time to change from her red nightgown and resolving on merely bringing her blue vest and her weapons. Immediately, she dashed over to her second-in-command to be updated of the situation.

"What's going on, Gonzo?" Tetra inquired.

"We're being chased, Miss Tetra! Pirates, perhaps under employ of someone else!" Gonzo attempted to explain amongst his preparations. "They've already fired the first shot against us, but no structural damages so far. We've had no time to prepare, which is why I ordered a hasty retreat until we were fit to counterattack!"

"Hmm... Well done, Gonzo." Tetra complimented his crewman's quick thinking. Looking around the deck, though, she couldn't help but feel that something was amiss. "So... where's Link?"

"Atop the crow's nest. He's apparently preparing for some sort of 'aerial attack', whatever that means."

Tetra wondered what exactly did 'aerial attack' mean as well, but for the time being, it was best to just leave him be. "All hands report!" came the order from the young captain. Without hesitation, the 6 members of the pirate crew sounded off, some coming out from below deck, barely finishing the proper preparations to the line of cannons. "Grab your blades and your flintlocks. We're not going to run anymore from some cowards who use the night to try and behead us. We're going to fight, and we're gonna teach those shallow-water pirates who we are!" Tetra's short speech roused massive cheering from the crew, who picked up their sharpened blades and raised them up in excitement. "Senza, return to the wheel! Zuko and Nudge, man the cannons! Gonzo, Mako and Niko, stay above deck with me and help me greet the visitors!"

"Ooh, boy!" Niko exclaimed, his short body barely able to contain his excitement. "Our first all-out battle in a good while. I can't wait!"

Before they were anywhere close to the enemy ship, Tetra decided to take care of one last piece of business. "Link!" She shouted right at the ship's crow's nest. "How are you doing up there?" Immediately, Link peeked out and, bomb in hand, waved at Tetra quickly to confirm he was all right and he just as soon disappeared from view. At least Tetra had an inkling of what he thought of doing, considering the bombs.

"All right, team. Get ready." Tetra commanded as she joined up with the group responsible for first defense on the port side of the ship. "Do not attack until I give the signal, got it?"

"Captain Tetra!" A sudden gruff voice ringed out in a mockingly inviting tone, which Tetra found all too familiar, much to her chagrin. As the rival ship slowly met theirs side by side, the visual in front confirmed Tetra's worst fears. It was him alright.

"Captain Mendoza. Didn't expect seeing you here." Tetra answered, feigning interest in this most disgusting-looking old 'friend' of the seas, so disgusting-looking in fact, that Tetra actually lowered her gaze to avoid eye contact more than out of fear or respect. No more words came out of her mouth, but she kept mouthing some words at regular intervals, almost as if...

"So what is the young, inexperienced, girl pirate playing as so deep in the ocean? No, wait, let me guess. By the looks of your clothes, you were in the middle of a slumber party." Mendoza took no time or consideration in throwing a verbal jab at Tetra.

Twelve seconds, Tetra counted. It was a new record for the insulting, dirty, overweight, ragtag, unkempt captain to throw one of his usual insults at her. "Oh, just the usual. A little plundering, a little sailing... you know, living the freedom of the pirate life and not selling myself out like others." She snarked right back in a quick remark.

"Oh, is that so?" Mendoza did not lose his pace in the exchange of remarks. "Well, this may just be a coincidence, but I was charged to find a bounty for a ship and crew that was giving trouble to a certain local government. It was a red ship with a lone mast in charge of 7 or 8 pirates, commanded by a female. Haven't you heard of them? They're giving a good reward for them."

"Too bad. I don't know." Tetra retorted, brandishing a firey gaze and a sly grin at the hairy captain.. "But don't worry. If I find out anything, I'll make sure to not tell you."

"Well, that's too bad." Mendoza said, his tone becoming more serious as he went on. "Because had you cooperated, I might not need to send you first class to Davey Jones' Locker."

Tetra did not respond. She knew precisely what came next, especially coming from a face so familiar to her. She grasped the hilt of her sabre tightly in wait for the rival captain's next move. Mendoza, on his part, was signaling for his pirate crew to join him, the likes of which outnumbered the Great Sea crew 4-to-1. Despite the odds, Tetra and her crew did not take one step backwards, instead having their eyes fill up with more determination to stand their ground.

"What? No snappy remark from you? I'm disappointed." Mendoza commented, vaguely stifling a chortle, while the rest of his crew just flat out laughed. "I must admit, that firey look in your eyes... it's almost cute... Just like your mother. All bark, no bite."

"I'm not cute." Tetra replied with a noticeable scowl, her eyes narrowing down on the target before her. "And don't you dare speak about my mother, you ogre."

"Aw, did I hit a nerve?" Mendoza openly mocked. "Do I have to remind you how did you inherit your position from your dear mom? Or do you still keep it clear in your head?"

It took a great deal of determination for Tetra to remain on her position and not jump the gun. Still, she did not make a move, for she knew the moment she lost control was the moment they would lose to Mendoza.

"Well, that's good." Mendoza said. "I would feel bad at shooting you down with those horrible memories in your head. Oops, too late. Oh, well." With those words, Mendoza slipped within the shielding of his crew, becoming invisible to anybody on the opposing side. Before they knew, a scream came from Mendoza's ship, and a lowly pirate was launched from the very middle of the ship right to the Great Sea crew. The crazy-looking lanky shirtless man flailed about wildly, not really aiming this sword at anybody in particular, just trying to find a way to land safely.

"Trampoline! Now!" Tetra ordered. Gonzo and Senza raised their arms to welcome the scrappy pirate in them, only to shoot him back up and straight overboard through the starboard. Tetra acknowledged the nature of the first attack and decided to hold off no longer. "No holding back, guys! Attack!"

The foursome jumped right on the guardrail, brandishing their sabres and ready for any forthcoming attack from their rivals in piracy. True enough, from within the mess of men, Captain Mendoza ordered his crew to attack mercilessly at their bounty. The first wave tired to enter the ship, but were promptly stopped by the Great Sea pirates' fast reaction, and were dumped on the gap between ships. No sooner had they defeated them, another wave jumped in and knocked Tetra's crew clean off the guardrail to land face up on the top deck. The crew quickly recovered, just in time to avoid being impaled by thrusting swords going their way.

Once he was up, Senza had immediate troubles handling the enemies. As if by magic, four pirates ran and ganged up on him and gave him grief, but he was quicker than most heavy classes, and managed to disarm the lot in a manner of swipes. He then took out his gun and shot right between them, sending them running and producing much laughter for him.

Gonzo's sword skills were not as great as Senza's, but his battle strategies didn't exactly needed them, anyway. He led a group of enemies in a chase through the insides of the ship until finally ending up in the cargo hold. Before the pirate foes could react, he cut the ropes holding the myriad of barrels, and kicked off one that served as foundation, effectively trampling the foes under them.

For Mako and Niko, however, things couldn't get tougher. Niko had his low height and agility on his side, making it easy to slip right below the enemies intact (with... painful results), but his strength was severely lacking, and most of his time was spent trying to locate his sword after it got flung away and fight. Mako was worse off. Not being too used to hand-to-hand combat, he had barely managed to slip past some pirates before being trapped on the stern. It didn't help that he was quickly spotted by the enemy. His bravery was commendable, considering how he raised his sabre defiantly, but he knew deep down the most he could do right now would be scratch someone's arm before being offed himself. He decided to set his weapon in a defense position and brace himself for the incoming strike.

*CRASH!*

"OW!" Niko exclaimed upon crashing and skidding away with Mako. "Gotta learn to brake on time... Mako! Are you doing good?"

"Not too much." Mako quickly explained. "I can't get a leg up."

"Man, if I could just be on equal fighting conditions with them." Niko lamented. He then remembered his current condition, and an idea quickly popped up. "Mako, launch me up!"

"What?"

"Launch me up! Trust me!" Niko hurried his comrade, raising his leg so Mako could grab it. Without much to go on, Mako did as was told, and heaved Niko as far up as he could. His strength was just enough to get Niko above the foes' heads, allowing him to use them as makeshift stepping stones.

"So how does it feel being stepped on? Hurts your ego and your skull, don't it?" Niko mocked the group of pirates who, shocked, couldn't react properly to a half-pint stomping on their heads as they were a random turtle.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!! This is exactly why I became a pirate! Take that! And that! And THAT!" Niko exclaimed, completely overjoyed at his higher hand in the battle, grinning like an idiot as he kept on stomping pirates on their skull.

Mako saw what Niko did and was content. His happiness did not last, however, when he noticed he was still trapped with a couple of pirate enemies ganging up on him. Feeling this was too easy a target, one of the pirates pulled out a rope and started enveloping Mako in it. "So who's in the mood for a spinning top game?" the one pirate said to the rest, inciting laughter from his comrades. He then pulled on the rope and made Mako spin around and around wildly. However, they forgot that Mako was still holding a sabre, which he involuntarily held fast as centrifugal force made the blade spin at the edge of the Mako-tornado, severely cutting up the pirates right down to size, starting with the one who inadvertently gave him the advantage.

"Great work, Mako!" Tetra shouted.

"Eh... Thanks! I guess..." Mako responded hesitantly. "You're doing great too... I guess."

Tetra was indeed doing good. As the captain of the Great Sea pirates, she was the prime target of almost every blade against her ship, and she had to call to every bit of her agility and strength to keep them at bay, and so far, she was doing a good job. Before she could react, she was surrounded by a group of pirates, yet she saw he opportunity and ducked right as they threw their swords at her, effectively blocking each other out. Afterwards, she maintained her back to the mast while locked on a heated exchange with some of the pirates. Even though the mast helped avoid back attacks, the swarm of pirates crossing swords with her and trying to swipe at her were proving too much a pressure for the young captain. Fortunately, Senza was always close to bail her out.

"Are you okay, Miss Tetra?" Senza asked. Suddenly, his question was met by the business end of Tetra's flintlock aimed directly at his shoulder... or so he though. A shot rang out, but Senza did not feel anything. Instead a singular cry of an opposing pirate made the large bearded man turn around to see he was one second away from being cleaved had Tetra not intervened.

"NOW I'm ok." Tetra answered.

""Miss Tetra! They're presenting their cannons!" Mako announced. Tetra gestured at Senza to the door and they pushed and heaved their way past their foes and progressed all the way below deck. She stuck out her head to where the cannons were to see Zuko and Nudge working hard at getting them all ready. "Nudge! Zuko! Prepare to fire on my mark!" Tetra ordered right before leaving as she entered. Recognizing the urgency of the orders, Zuko walked to a rope dangling in the side and pulled it, opening the cannon windows while Nudge pushed the cannons out to make them stick out properly.

Back on top, Tetra, Mako Gonzo and Senza converged on the bow, attempting to take the battle to Mendoza's ship. "Come on, guys! Time to give Mendoza a house call!" Tetra announced, preparing to jump over to the large ship next to hers. Before this could happen, a large vibration rocked the boat so violently, it made half the people standing on the ship stagger and fall to the ground.

"Fire all cannons! Counterattack!" Tetra shouted, assuming the cannons from Mendoza's ship already fired. Obediently, Zuko and nudge lit up the cannon fuses and let the cannons fire, despite not having stabilized completely. The result was a rather mismanaged attack that barely scrapped the opposing ship.

"Great. Now what?" Tetra said, noticing the counterattack was less-than-effective.

"Miss Tetra! Behind you!" Gonzo screamed, a desperate tone governing his voice. Tetra turned just in time to see Captain Mendoza in all his girth standing right behind her, aiming his gun against her at point blank range.

"What a shame." Mendoza lamented in his usual mocking tone. "I had hoped you would learn from past mistakes, but I guess that was not enough. Goodbye, girl." He cocked his gun, pointed it at Tetra's forehead, and...

*BANG!*

*THUD!*

"And THAT'S why fatsos like you never get anything done right!" Niko said from atop Mendoza's belly after throwing his weight at the bulky captain, making him miss his target by mere inches before flopping down on the floor, creating another violent vibration.

"Niko!" The Great Sea pirates shouted in unison at witnessing the unlikely hero's actions.

"The one and only!" Niko declared, dropping off a wriggling Mendoza who was trying to stand up.

Tetra decided to take this opportunity to flaunt her victory over the ever-confident Captain Mendoza. "So, Mendoza. What do you have to say about this young, inexperienced, girl captain that just kicked your butt?"

"I say..." Mendoza uttered, still struggling to get up from his turtled position. "... I say you've underestimated me, girl. Rain of fire, now!"

Shocked, Tetra quickly turned around to see how Mendoza's ship was outfitted with at least 3 catapults and were being loaded with tough mesh balls ignited on fire. Before she could issue a command, the catapults were triggered, shooting the fireballs straight up, and it looked like they were going to land on Tetra's ship, and she had no defense against this. Unless...

"LINK!" She shouted desperately.

Immediately afterwards, several ice-covered arrows shot out from the crow's nest, nailing the fireballs in midair and turning them to dust and smoke. Upon seeing this spectacle, all the pirates in both ships looked up in awe, with Mendoza's group in clear disappointment for their failed plan. Link then popped out of the crow's nest for a second and, Hyoi pear in hand, waved at his comrades, then slipped back to his preparations.

"You know, Link. Whatever you're doing, you better do it now." Tetra, mildly annoyed at the green-clad boy up the crow's nest for his apparent lack of cooperativeness, shouted at his to hurry up. These little preparations were getting a little long in the tooth, ad if there wasn't any progress, she swore she would...

"What is that music?" Mendoza wondered. Indeed, there was a faint trace of music running through the air, an event made even weirder by the fact that there was nobody in the vicinity playing any sort of instrument. How could they anyway, for they were all engaged in battle until just a few moments ago. Everybody... except Link.

On top of the crow's nest, Link had set up a grand collection of Hyoi pears attached to bombs, and proceeded to use his Wind Waker baton to conduct the Command Melody. This majestic melody summoned all the seagulls near the ships to fly to where Link was.

"Seagulls?" Mako questioned the sudden appearance of a large flock of birds coming to rest right on the crow's nest. Looking intently, it looked like the seagulls were eating atop the ship's main mast. "Why is Link feeding birds at a time like this?"

Then, the seagull took to the skies again. This time, however, they were carrying a small bomb on their beaks as they grabbed wind beneath their wings. Unlike their arrival, it seemed like their departure was more synchronized, and they ere flying in a set pattern. Everybody looked in awe as the seagulls began making rounds above the two pirate ships, with their bombs precariously clutched on the beaks. Finally, the seagulls seemed to have settled on Mendoza's ship and were waiting for some sort of signal.

Just then, the enchanting music died out.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

_(Behold my special effects!)_

"Abandon Ship!"

"Recover anything salvageable!"

"Where is Francis? Francis!"

"Captain Mendoza! The ship can't take it anymore!"

Slowly but surely, Mendoza's ship began to lose the defining traits of a proper ship. The mizzenmast was cast down, breaking other masts in the process. The lush bowspirit went down in one strike. The top deck's floorboards went flying, leaving the lower decks exposed for any further bombardments. In the blink of an eye, Mendoza's ship went from majestic to one cannonball shy of sunk.

"M... M... My ship!" Mendoza weeped for his once-beautiful ship being turned to nautical scrap. "This is... impossible! How did you... how did he... with the seagulls... and the bombs... and..."

"I think the proper way of saying it would be... 'I say you underestimated me, Mendoza', don't you think?" Tetra smirked at the dumbstruck pirate who simply sat down and stared at his ship nonstop.

Finally, one word slipped out of Captain Mendoza's mouth, one word that changed the course of this whole fight:

"Retreat!" Mendoza shouted. Getting to his feet as quickly as he possibly could, he rushed out of Tetra's ship and jumped to the wreck of his old ship, followed by the rest of his crew, regardless of the ship's condition. No sooner had the last man entered the battered ship did they lift the only good sail remaining and made a painfully slow escape.

"This isn't the last time you've heard of me, kid!" Mendoza swore as he made his retreat.

"Yeah, well why don't you turn back and finish what you started, coward!" Tetra retorted right back, unable to hide her mocking tone in her voice.

Senza stood beside Tetra, staring at the slowly retreating opposing ship, with a curious look adorning his face. Finally he braved to ask. "Is it really ok to let them go, Miss Tetra?"

"Who said I'm letting them go?" Tetra answered, pointing over at their very own catapult on the bow, where a hard-working Gonzo loaded a barrel of explosives. "I'm just waiting until Gonzo finishes."

No sooner had Gonzo prepared the catapult and turning it to aim at the runaway pirates did Tetra give the silent order. Gonzo let the barrel fly, heading straight to the damaged ship. The display of oranges and yellows that followed was so intense that for the briefest of moments it pierced right through the darkness, rivaling the light of the sun.

"That's awesome." Niko exclaimed as the spectacle did a terrific job at taking his breath away.

"And that's that." Tetra declared, dusting off her hands clean. "What do YOU think of that, Mendo... ZAUGH!" She suddenly shrieked at the surprising sight of Link standing right by her. "When did you get down from..." She didn't even finish her sentence when Link pointed over at the grappling hook tied at the top of the crow's nest which he used for a speedy climb down. "... Oh, just forget it. After all, you did pull off that bombing attack quite beautifully."

"What about me? What about me?" Niko demanded.

"Well, of course, Niko. You're a real life-saver." Tetra complimented the small pirate with a smile and a pat on his head. "In fact, I want to thank you all. I know that, ever since my mother died and I took charge, things haven't been exactly the same." In a rare reversal from her usual snarky attitude, Tetra fidgeted around trying to find the right way to explain what she wanted to say. "I've tried to keep this band together... and I did some things I didn't think I'd do... but you were always there... I guess what I want to say is, you guys are great. I'd be nothing but a captain of a bunch of planks were it not for you."

"Miss Tetra... don't worry." Gonzo replied. "We've said it before, and we'll say it again: We've got your back. They would have to kill us twice before we betray you or leave you alone."

"That's right." Nudge agreed.

"True..." Zuko concurred.

"Yep." Niko joined.

"No stopping us." Senza said. Among the heartwarming moment, though, a large yawn escaped his mouth, giving a clear sign of his tiredness. "But right now, who's stopping us from a well-deserved rest?" He began walking to the door leading below deck slowly as he began fiddling with his weapon-filled belt, but before he entered, he made a final declaration. "I call top hammock."

"What?! No way!" Niko complained as he rushed to the door. "It took me months to get the top hammock! No way you're getting it today!"

"Then run for it!" Nudge challenged the other two, joining the rat race to the end.

"Wait! The top hammock has the est view out. I want it!" Mako said, running behind the mob.

"That hammock is owed to me, by thunder!" Gonzo attempted to calm the rousing group by calling ranks on them.

"Oh, bother..." Zuko sighed, then slowly walked below deck.

Tetra watched as her crew members started acting like children fighting for their favorite toy. She had no real reason to try and stop them, for she knew they would eventually work it out. Also, she was tremendously tired herself, despite putting up an impressive fight just moments earlier. It was high time to call it a night. Except a stray hand that came to rest on her shoulder stopped her.

"Link?" Tetra wondered, seeing that the young adventurer had not yet gone to sleep. "Did you forget something?"

Link did not answer. For whatever reason, he simply stood there staring directly at Tetra's face. There was something about her complexion, her radically tousled hair, her crystal clear blue eyes... it just enthralled him. He found himself lost in this trance-like state, and for a moment there, he just didn't want to leave. Still, common sense got the better of him, and he snapped out of his trance. Thus, with a gentle pat on Tetra's shoulder, he quietly bid himself goodbye and proceeded to walk away.

"Link!" Tetra beckoned, complete with an outstretched right arm as if trying to grasp him and keep him around. Link turned around just in time to see this small spectacle right before Tetra let her arm limp out her right side. "I... I, uh... thanks."

Link answered his partner's heartfelt appreciation with a giggle and a wave before hastily disappearing into the insides of the ship, leaving Tetra alone with the star filled night. Tetra felt thoroughly confused. She didn't even know why she stopped Link or what was it that she was about to tell him. It was as if her mind shut down for a second and something other took over. This was uncommon for the young woman, having been born and raised in a world that teaches you to be rough or be dead, to let anything overtake her rational thought and quick action for an awkward moment. It wouldn't be right for Tetra the Pirate to succumb to such frivolous... emotions, maybe? She wasn't sure herself.

The only thing she was sure of that night was that she fought hard, not just for her survival and for her crew and ship, but also for the honor of the previous captain of that ship. Before she retreated to her quarters, she took one final glance to the heavens and whispered softly.

"I hope you're proud of me, mom."

* * *

"Sir! We have a situation." The soldier broke the breaking news to the Emperor of Waarheid, who hasn't even set foot on his office that morning.

"Speak, newly appointed sergeant of the 8th division." Dante commanded.

"Some pirates have washed ashore at the break of dawn. They look like they've been hanging to makeshift rafts for a long time and some of them look badly injured." The sergeant unloaded the piece of information to his Emperor. He took a deep breath before releasing the stinger of it all. "The captain appears to know you and insists you grant him an audience."

"What?" Dante instantly exclaimed. He tried, at least for his public image, to associate with scum like pirates as little as possible. There were only a few who would do such a bold claim out in the open anyway... perhaps only one. "Sergeant, take me to these pirates. I shall speak with their captain immediately."

Surprised, the sergeant did not understand to what extent this could lead. He knew better than to belay an order straight from the Emperor. "Y... Yes sir. This way."

Dante and the sergeant walked out of the grand mansion that was their headquarters and headed off to the dock, where a group of soldiers were holding on to the injured pirates at gunpoint. Not that they would try and escape, considering most of them were too hurt to walk straight, and even those who could walk had injuries of their own to deal about. And right in front of the pack of soldiers was...

"Dante!" Captain Mendoza cried out. His great hairy self was covered in bumps and bruises, his clothes were tattered to the point of showing clear views of his massive girth, some of his beard was singed and his overall position before the Emperor was simply pathetic. "Tell your goons to back off. Tell 'em I was workin' for ye! I tried an' I tried to beat that stupid girl senseless, but she up an' covered us in explosives. She's still out there, and if you can get me a better ship, I'll sink 'em before they even have a chance to breathe!"

Dante merely looked down at Mendoza with contemptible, rage-filled eyes. Not only did this two-bit pirate failed to finish his job, he had the gall to wash up in his country and plead for mercy. "I know you." Dante spoke, bringing a sudden smile to Mendoza's face. "You're Captain Mendoza, the infamous pirate. You're a wanted man, you know. Accused of pillaging, plundering, mass destruction, slaughter, larceny, and who-knows what else. It would be my pleasure to furnish a fresh jail cell for you and your lackeys."

Mendoza's smile suddenly dropped upon hearing these dooming words. Back when they spoke, they seemed so buddy-buddy, he thought he could take advantage and ask him for another chance. He had been outplayed in his own game... and the price he would pay might be really nasty.

"Soldiers, throw these criminals in jail and throw away the key." Dante ordered the group just before turning his back on his once-partner. Seeing Dante walk away like he was the king of the world filled Mendoza with rage, and he swore right there that so long as he still had a breath of air in his lungs, he would seek to avenge that betrayal.

"General!" Dante called for the general in charge of the operation at the docks. "There is still another group of pirates I am deeply worried about. It's the ragtag gang that was in this very city just a few days ago. I want naval fleets doing rounds every hour on the hour. They cannot touch Waarheid alive again!"

* * *

"So... Why are we back on Waarheid?" Niko asked after walking deep into the woods south of where they left their ship northwest of the city.

"I told you already!" Tetra shouted, losing patience with the swabbie's constant questioning. "Because the Compass is leading us here. There are more pages of the book here, and we need to find them. And if the last place was anything to go by, there will also be plenty of treasure."

"Ooh! That's good enough for me!" Niko said, complacent on the prospect of having some fresh treasure on his hands.

...some time later...

"The treasure's not good enough for me anymore!" Niko shrieked, noticeably shaken by the sudden creepy shift in the woods' environment.

"Don't be a crybaby, Niko." Senza said. "It's all just a bunch of misshapen tree branches under odd lighting. Nothing to worry about."

Niko, despite breathing hard and beginning to drop cold sweat, nodded in agreement to his large partner's words, deciding to repeat them like a mantra. "There's nothing to worry about. There's nothing to worry about. There's nothing to worry about. There's nothing to worry about. There's nothing to worry... AAAAAAUUUUUGGH!!!"

Suddenly, Niko was right in front of the largest, darkest structure within the darkened woods. So large, dark and filled with creepy branches, that the poor pirate almost fainted in shock.

"Is that... a tree?" Gonzo questioned, taking a step back to attempt to take in the dark visual as much as possible.

"So they hid a couple of pages inside a tree?" Mako inferred. "It's ironic, because paper comes from trees. You have to cut down trees to make them into paper, but that very product of man is being guarded by an incredibly large tr..."

"Not helping the creepy vibe, Mako." Niko said, covering the short intellectual's mouth to make him stop talking.

"Regardless, this is our next destination." Tetra declared. "But first, we have to get some shut-eye. I say we camp right here."

Thus, everybody pitched their tents and settled in to catch some sleep. Before long, everybody was already deep in slumber... everybody, that is, except two people.

"Link... do you think this place is haunted?" Niko blabbed on to his tent partner, much to Link's sleep-deprived dismay. "I mean, I don't want to scare you, but I've heard these places are usually where witches and wicked spirits live... or we could be sleeping right on top of an ancient burial ground... or what if some wolfos appear at night a gnaw at us while we sleep? But what if..."

**To Be Continued**


	7. Inside the Dark Tree

A/N: This chapter took entirely too much time to write. I don't have an excuse for the delay, either. I'm just a lazy bum. I will try to regain my two-chapters-per-month routine from now on, but I'll have to see if nothing gets in my way. Now then...

Come on! Don't pretend you don't love REVIEW ANSWERIN' TIME!

James Birdsong: Thank you. Do continue reading.

Ri2: Thank you again. There was a point where I thought to myself "Can Niko really be so big a deadweight?", so I gave him some use. And the dream sequence was a bit confusing... perhaps on purpose. Remember how, in OoT, Zelda had prophetic dreams? Just another shout-out to the series.

?: (goes over chapter 6 to find the part you had problems with) I thought it was clear enough that Mako was the one that said that. How would Mendoza know Link's name? Perhaps I was lazy with the explosions, but I think it did a good job regardless.

_The Legend of Zelda_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 7:

Inside the Dark Tree

"I found the entrance!"

The cry from Mako got the desired result, as the whole group ran up to his general position as soon as they heard the news. Upon gazing at the gaping maw that was the opening to the gigantic, dark tree in front of them, it wouldn't be surprising if some of them got uneasy shivers running down their spines and took a few steps back with full intentions of fleeing the scene.

"Th... this is it?" Niko stuttered, his hand shaking wildly as he tried pointing towards the entrance.

"L... Look, guys." Tetra started, trying to pull up her bravery card for the rest. "I'm not too keen on this, either, but the sooner we go in, the sooner we can get this over with."

"True, Miss Tetra. Very true" Senza said, complete with apparent confidence in his stance. "I say we get this over with already! So... let's say it's over and leave this place already!"

"Hold it, scaredy-cat." Tetra interrupted Senza's sudden cowardly tactic. "We're not leaving this place until we find what we came here for. We're here for the missing pages and whatever treasure we can find as collateral. Anybody who doesn't help in the search will not get a share, got it?"

The pirates did not utter a word in protest. After all, they were being wrangled in the part that hurt them the most... payday. They looked around at each other, only to find a few downtrodden looks in their faces. They ultimately sounded in unison the expected answer.

"Aye aye, captain."

"Good. Now..." Tetra began... but her words faltered as she stared again at the tremendously creepy entrance of the tree. "Well... There's a good reason I decided to do this in the day. At least the light will make things less scary, right?"

And on that awkward note, the group entered their next destination:

**Inside the Dark Tree**

After walking a bit through some narrow passages, the team of eight wound up in a large room adorned with many shades of brown and green, its floors made entirely of roots swirling below them, and an uncertain ceiling complete with vines hanging from it. Despite the dark lighting, the inside of the tree didn't look as creepy as it looked from the outside.

"Well, this isn't too bad." Gonzo said, looking around the place with no worries. "Once you get past the odd coloring, the whole place is not really creepy at all."

"You know... you're right!" Niko exclaimed in a rare testament of courage from the tiny sailor. "This place is creepier on the outside than from the inside. Maybe it was the whole 'evil forest' look that helped it. But here... it's almost peaceful!"

"True... it is peaceful." Zuko commented. "Perhaps... too peaceful."

"Oh, don't be a spoilsport, Zuko." Niko reprimanded. "For once, we get an easy task with a reward in the end. Why don't we enjoy it for all it's worth. Right, Link?"

Link did not answer. He was not focused in the conversation anyway, as his gaze was fixated at the ceiling and the vines hanging from them. There was something about the vines that seemed eerily... similar to him.

"Link?" Niko repeated, trying to gain his friend's attention, to no avail. Link was locked in a staring contest with the vines, and there was no pulling him away. His look was not of curiosity, either. It was more of a cautious warning watch. "Link! You there?" Niko called again, waving his hands on Link's face to see if he got some sort of reaction. "He's out of it."

"I don't get him." Senza commented. "Is he looking at the ceiling? The only thing over there is a lot of green vines with... eh..." For a moment, it looked like Senza was going on the same trance that Link was on. "Uh... Mako... What do you call those reddish things that are at the end of the vines and stuff?"

Mako fixed his glasses and took a good look at what had both the green-garbed boy and the bearded man perplexed. "Those would be... buds. Like flower buds. But why would vines have flower buds? It's not in their nature."

"Guys? Look down." Zuko plainly said, pointing to the floor where various vines with red buds on their ends lay.

"This is a strange development." Mako said as he and the rest looked closer at the mysterious vines on the floor.

"Guys!" Tetra reprimanded, visibly annoyed by the apparent worthless distraction the pirates have gotten roped on. "They're just vines! They're not important or interesting, they're not moving, they're not dangerous, they're nothing. The only thing that it's doing is wasting our time. Now snap out of it and let's move... what?"

Suddenly, Tetra felt something creeping up her right leg. Looking down, one of the vines was wrapping itself around her leg. Before she could react, the vine pulled her strongly, making her fall on her back and be dragged along forcefully on the ground.

"AGH! Stupid... little..." Tetra grunted as she struggled to keep herself from being dragged off to who-knows-where. Reacting instinctively, Link rushed over to try and stop the attack, and in a burst of strength, jumped and managed to grab Tetra with his right hand, using his left hand to anchor this sword at the ground. Taking this opportunity, Tetra pulled out her sabre and cut the vine that was pulling her out. Amazingly, the vine squirreled out with a shrill squeal to a darkened corner in the room, while Link helped get Tetra to her feet.

"M... Mako?" Tetra called the smarter member of the clan while she stared at the place the vine came from. "Do you know why would these vines have buds on them?"

"I have no idea. Why?"

"Well... I think I know." Tetra answered, taking a few hesitant steps back. Suddenly, out of the darkness a huge Deku Baba lunged out and tried to bite off whatever it could get, forcing Tetra and Link to jump out of the way. Suddenly, every vine that had a bud on it came to life, turning into hungry, lunging Deku Babas that forced the pirates to move about, making the taller guys hunch down to avoid having their heads bitten off.

"Deku Babas!" Mako shouted out while running to avoid being attacked by the swarm. "Cut them on the vine part, but avoid their mouths! They love to eat meat!"

"But that's not so bad." Niko commented.

"Dude..." Nudge explained. "You're meat."

"Oh..." Niko said, wincing at the thought of becoming a choice cut for the deku babas. "Well, I can avoid their mouths very easy!" He said, pulling out his sabre and throwing it sideways, cutting off about four babas before stopping on the floor.

"Very nice, Niko." Gonzo commented. "Now how are you gonna get your sabre back?"

"Oh, that's easy. I just..." Niko stopped short of providing an answer when he realized he hadn't an answer to that one. "... oops?"

Amongst Niko's thick-headed move, Link devised a better idea to take out the deku babas. He pulled out his boomerang and aimed it at a large concentration of babas. He threw it, and succesfully took out many of the babas in the place, leaving enough room for the rest of the pirates to maneuver around the babas and fight back. Before long, the combination of Link's boomerang and the pirate's swords did short work of the smaller deku babas -even the ones on the ceiling- and only leaving them with the larger one that threatened them to eat them whole if they tried to venture close enough.

"And how are we going to get past _him_?" Gonzo questioned.

"Kill it with fire!" Niko shouted, much to the annoyed stared of his companions.

"Wait... that's it." Tetra said, turning to Link. "Quick, use your fire arrows, Link." Link wasted no time looking around his bag for the bow and arrows... but as much as he tried, he couldn't find them. "Don't tell me..." Tetra groaned as she witnessed Link shaking his empty bag and chuckling weakly. "Didn't I tell you to pack as many items as possible? How do you expect we kill plantivore over here?"

Link's head was reeling with incomplete ideas to try and take down the ferocious baba in front of them, but for every idea he concocted, a quick rebuttal from the monster was brought. Tired, he flopped down to the floor and took a breather, clutching his hands on the root-sewn ground in frustration. Just then, he noticed he caught something that was not ground. He inspected it to find a simple nut that was slightly cracked, and its innards seemed to shine in a glow of its own. Curious, Link got up and tried opening the nut, but when he was about to grab the boomerang to use as a makeshift nutcracker, he slipped on a vine and fell to the ground, sending the nut flying at the Deku Baba's general direction.

[FLASH!]

When the intense flash subsided, the group witnessed the deku baba turning a sickening purple before finally turning as still as a statue. The group also sit still for a while, wondering what had happened to the monster. After making sure the baba was not moving, they drew close and searched for the stem, quickly cutting it before it was too late. And with one deafening screech, the giant deku baba finally relinquished its life to the victors.

"Yeah!" Senza shouted, feeling great over delivering the final blow. "That's how you cut them up good!" His cheering suddenly stopped when he saw the others looking at him in an uneasy and even scared way. "Eh... too much?"

The gang, finding no real way to continue, decided to look into the hole occupied by the giant baba, only to find a corridor that grew darker as it went on. "This is going to be tough." Mako commented. "We'll need to conserve oil if we want to get in and out in light."

"Well... you know what they say..." Niko began, completely shaking in his boots. "When you can't beat 'em... escape from 'em!"

"Hold it, chickadee." Tetra said as she caught the runaway pirate by the collar. "We can make this. We just need to remain together and light those lamps only when it's important. Got it?" The crew had little choice but to agree with their captain. Thus, lighting only a single lamp and appointing Link as the guide, the pirates ventured deeper into the insides of the tree.

* * *

"Why does it have to be so dark?" Niko whined.

"Will you stop whining?" Nudge reprimanded the tiny pirate. " We know it's dark, thank you very much. But that's all there is. There's been no other hurdles, no traps, no nothing."

"Yeah, I know..." Niko said. "But... why does it have to be so dark?"

The group groaned collectively. Ever since they entered the dark hole, Niko has done nothing but complaining and bickering, which was making the rest of the crew insane. And they were in for a grand total of two minutes.

"I wanted to get out of here, but nooo... I had to come along, and now I can't really..."

"Ok, that is it!" Tetra yelled out while she stepped back to Niko's position. "If you can't shut up, then I'll shut you up." She then pulled out a piece of cloth and stuffed Niko's mouth with it. "There, bite that if you're scared."

As Tetra walked back to the front of the pack, the pirates attempted to stifle a laugh due to Niko's current disposition. At least they were pleased they once again had relative calm among their ranks.

"Now, then, that's one problem we don't have to think about any... more..." Tetra stopped just short of finishing her thoughts when she heard a strange sound coming from the ceiling. It was dark, and the lone lamp provided only a dim light, making it hard to make out what was above them. Due to the sound, it was definitely NOT a deku baba, but something else. Something smaller... quieter... flapping their... wings?

"Keese..." Tetra barely managed to whisper as she took a step back and began hyperventilating, looking at the dark ceiling with glazed-over, darting eyes for any indication of their new threat. Link tried walking over to her to see what was wrong, but she did not react. No sooner had he tried once, though...

[SCREECH!!!]

"EEEEEEEEEEEK!!!" A shrill scream echoed across the corridor as a swarm of keese suddenly swooped down from the ceiling. The never-ending swarm flew right above the crew's heads, hitting the taller guys and making them fall over. The wave of keese was so great that the lamp had somehow abruptly flicked off, enveloping the whole corridor in stark darkness.

Then, silence...

"Uh... everybody okay?" Gonzo asked.

"Yeah... I think so." Niko answered.

"I feel... heavy." Zuko commented, finding himself unable to get up from the floor.

"Whoa! Sorry, buddy." Senza quickly apologized as he stood up from above Zuko.

"Wait a moment, I'll light up my lamp." Nudge said as he stumbled with his lamp and his share of oil. No sooner had he managed to light up the lamp that they were treated with another heaping helping of keese.

"EEEEEEEEK!!! KILL 'EM!"

"Yes, ma... eh?" Mako wondered after hearing the same exact shrill scream from before and finally pinpointing where it was coming from. "M... Miss Tetra?"

When he looked at Tetra's general direction, Mako almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. Tetra was clutching almost desperately at Link, effectively making his right arm useless, and sporting a clearly horror-stricken look in her face. "What are you waiting for? KILL THEM!!" She ordered again, with a clearly strained, raspy yell.

Doing a favor to his hearing, Link had little choice but to pull out his boomerang with his free hand and aim at the keese wherever he could see them. Aided by the pirates' strategy of having the smaller guys wailing at the keese atop the bigger guys, the oversized bats were done for in a short time.

"G... Good work..." Tetra said upon witnessing the relentless carnage her crew delivered to the keese. Once she calmed down enough, she finally figured out the position she was in. Her arms were wrapped around Link in a tight embrace, leaving her legs limping and dragging along the floor, as if completely helpless. Her sudden embarrassing blush was enough to accompany the lamp's lighting, and her weak chuckling as she loosened her embrace only served to drive the point home. "Eh... well, I... Keese and I don't get along too well, you know. Didn't I tell you the story? It's a good one. I... I... I... oy..."

After finally clambering off Link, the green-clad blonde simply brushed off her actions with a simple smile and a tap on her head... which did little to dim Tetra's blushing.

"Eh... ahem..." Tetra cleared her throat to attempt and regain control of the situation. "Well... now that that's done, shall we continue?" Thus, without looking at any member of her crew, she walked onwards, leaving the guys utterly confused.

Eventually, the pirates finally left the dark corridor in favor of a low-ceiling room, which somehow had some sunlight filtering in, with a rather large hole in the middle and a couple of vines running down them. Across the hole they entered, the room also had another entrance which led into a rather long bridge composed of tree branches and vines.

"So... which way now?" Gonzo wondered as he paced himself around the hole, inspecting their options and their possible outcomes.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tetra said. "We'll split up and cover more..."

"NO!" Niko yelled out, rushing over to Tetra's side and beseeching her mercy. "Do you not know? This is exactly what happens in horror tales. The group splits off, and the killer has an easier time picking them off! We'll be shark food, I tells ya! Shark food!"

Tetra looked over at a kneeling, begging Niko with a narrowing, incredulous stare. "You've been reading far too many of those cheap slasher novels, haven't you?"

Niko blinked once, seemingly incredulous of how transparent his true motivations were. "Your point being?"

Tetra sighed and decided to disregard his outburst, lest she allow space for another headache. "Gonzo." She called to her second-in-command. "You, Niko, Zuko and Nudge will explore the bridge area. Senza, Mako, Link and I will go down this hole. Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am." The pirates sounded off in unison. Thus, the first group commanded by the Captain Tetra grabbed hold of the vines adorning the hole and began making their way down to the unknown, while the second group, led by Gonzo, left the low room in favor of the natural bridges on the other side.

* * *

"This is kinda odd..." Nudge commented.

"What is odd?" Zuko wondered what went on his partner's mind.

"It's just, all the other rooms, and even the hole from before... they all looked very cramped. You know... low ceiling, dark, full of enemies and stuff..., but these bridges look very vast." Nudge explained, motioning towards the walls and different structures around the bridges. "I mean, look at that wall. It's so far away. And the floor beneath the bridge is so far from us, too. I wonder... this place looks far too big for its own good."

"I see..." Zuko noticed, taking a moment to let the reality of the vast, impressively large room sink into his mind.

"Personally, I'm glad." Niko butted in. "This place actually looks peaceful and calm, unlike the creepy vibes that filled the previous rooms. I'm actually glad I was sent here."

"Yeah, I say you're overreacting there." Gonzo commented. "It's a big place... so what? Not every overly large place has to be the nesting grounds of something ominous or evil or anything of the like."

[HOWL!!!]

"... But I've been wrong before."

Suddenly, out of a higher plane dropped a pair of immense, frothing, hairy wolfos, growling and gnawing their teeth as they stare down their unsuspecting visitors with hungry eyes. The group tried to back away from the latent ferocious beasts, but before long, they were cornered by the swift and acrobatic moves of one of the wolfos who masterfully rounded the pirates around the tight bridge to stand on the other side. Now, the guys truly had no escape. They would fight... or they would die.

* * *

"My, this is a deep tunnel. At least we have good visibility, right?" Mako commented, feeling the elongated rappelling session deep inside his poor muscles and trying to find the positives within it.

"Whoever did this must not want us to either get to the bottom, get out of here alive... or is simply too big." Senza suggested. "Definitely not human. Too perfect to be the tree, too."

"Well, we'll show them, then." Tetra exclaimed. "We did not just walked right into the middle of epileptic tree central just to run away. We'll get to the bottom of this hole, and there's nothing that can stop us."

While this exchange happened, a certain teenage green kid was having perhaps way too much fun swinging himself around the hole using the vines he managed to grab. For Link, it was never about the scary environments, or the prizes at hand. He hardly used his rupees for himself anymore. He was a man of adventure. It was in his blood, and he took every chance he found to make it the best he could possibly muster, sometimes earning the annoyed stares of his comrades, particularly Tetra.

"And would you take this just a bit more seriously, Link?" Tetra reprimanded. "We need to get to the bottom of the hole fast, and your monkeying around isn't helping..."

Suddenly, Tetra's voice faltered and her mouth ran agape upon seeing the rushing green blur falling right past her eyes. She looked up to where Link once swung above them, only to see limping vines moving idly about. She then moved her gaze below her, looking for signs of Link, only to find the dark abyss stare back at her.

"So... fast enough?" Mako said, apparently echoing Link's thoughts on the matter.

"Where did he go, is the question." Tetra uttered, still looking down the hole. "I swear, that kid can get on my nerves when he says he waAUGH!" She suddenly let out a yelp when she turned around to see a slyly-smiling Link hanging far too close for her. She promptly reacted by kicking him in the arm, making him swing away. "G... Give me a heart attack, why don't ya?"

While swinging around due to Tetra's gentle push, Link crashed onto the wall, shaking it somewhat. While not enough to become dangerous, it was noticeable and managed to attract unwanted attention.

"Wait a minute..." Senza spoke quietly, trying to maintain silence. There was something troubling him, but he could not perceive it with a lot of noise going around. "Can you hear that? That strange buzzing sound." His words made the other climbers stop and take notice. There it was... a faint buzzing sound. It was slowly getting closer and closer, but was somehow still muted. Senza wondered why was the sound so muted still... until he came to the shocking realization.

"Link! Get off that wall now!" Senza ordered with a immense sense of urgency. Before Link could react, however, the wall behind him collapsed as if it were blown with a row of bombs, sending debris everywhere, and having a large rock catch Link off-guard in his left arm. Out of the newly-created hole came out a large flying creature, yellow and black in fashion, with wings that appear too short to support its weight and a rather large stinger flashing in its rear area.

"That's a Flambée!" Mako announced, hurrying to find a spot as far away from the oversized bee as possible.

"Heh... perfect timing. Things were getting too boring." Tetra commented. Seeing Link's pained condition, she grimaced as her attention was quickly brought back to the monster in front of them. "So we got one man incapable of fighting, and this thing is powerful enough to break through walls and is fast to boot. Brace yourselves, gentlemen. This just got loads more interesting."

* * *

"Brace for impact!"

The pirates, possibly acting out of pure fear, obeyed Gonzo's orders instinctively and raised their sabres, effectively blocking out the wolfos' vicious advance.

"How are we going to stop these beasts?" Nudge wondered.

"We have to go on the offensive..." Zuko suggested as he tried to counterattack the swipes of the hulking Canis towering over him. "We're four... they're two..."

"Hey, you're right!" Niko said. "There's no reason we can't overpower them." With newborn determination, the short pirate grabbed hold of his sabre and bore a menacing look to the wolfos, suggesting the beasts had their days counted. "So now let's..."

"Yes?"

"Let's... let's..." Niko stuttered with his words, almost as if his mind had suddenly gone to sleep in his moment of genius. "So... what shall we do?"

Annoyed, Gonzo grabbed the little guy by his collar and met him face-to-face. "I'll show you what we'll do!" Afterwards, Gonzo threw Niko over to the other side of the bridge, right above the pack of wolfos.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Niko protested. "Now I'm all alone, and the wolfos are turning over and looking at me as if I were a tasty piece of steak, and you guys are now safe on their blind side, and now..." He quickly shut his mouth when he figured out just what was happening in front of his eyes. The perfect opportunity to take advantage of the fast-but-dumb wolfos. "Hey, wolfies! How about a nice Niko steak a la mode! Come on! I'm delicious!"

The Wolfos reacted to the attention seeking meatbag in front of them and began inching their way with menacing, hungry looks plastered over their faces. "That's right, folks! Today I'll show you that you can definitely get the most out of a Niko!" Niko continued, trying to maintain the attention until the others acted upon their roles. Meanwhile, the wolfos pair kept inching closer and closer to Niko. "Why, you can deep-fry the ribs for an amazing 4-wolfos dish. The arms and legs provide unheard-of nutrients to keep your skin all furry and shiny, and the body can be eaten raw, for that fabulous what-in-the-world-is-taking-you-guys-so-long! mysteriously delicious tangy taste."

Just then, a loud, ear-piercing howl echoed through the room, as Gonzo and Nudge thrusted their sabres right into the wolfos' backsides. Before the beasts could react to that backstabbing move, the piratespulled out their sabres from the wolfos' body and sliced them off once more, making them wince and stagger in pure pain, falling over the bridge's edge and down a great distance to the floor below.

"And that's that." Gonzo declared triumphantly.

"I'm not... so sure..." Zuko said, pointing down to where the wolfos fell. When the other three looked down, the already-dead wolfos were being approached by a growing pack of their kin, sniffing them out and nudging them to try and get them to move. When it dawned upon the pack that the two wolfos would not come back to life, they began howling loudly, in mourning of these fallen comrades.

"Well, great." Nudge began to speak in a heavily complaining mood. "First they want to maul us, then they want to make us feel bad about surviving? Well GOOD LUCK WITH THAT, YOU STUPID ANIMALS!"

Upon that sudden outburst, the wolfos pack looked up to the bridge to spot the source of the annoying noise and the three who were with him. Suddenly, their eyes locked on a scowl, and they began to growl, and some of them even began to move on the prowl.

"I... I think you made them mad, Nudge." Niko stated.

"And I suspect they know this place and will be on us pretty quickly." Gonzo added. He thought about the possibilities, then turned over to Niko. "Haven't you said that you always have an emergency plan? Because that's what we need right now."

"Really?" Niko said, his eyes lighting up when he heard that. He promptly lifted off his shirt, revealing an impressive, if somewhat scary, sight: a great amount of bombs, strapped tightly around his chest, ready to be set off at a moment's notice. "Come on, wolfos! I'm ready for ya!"

"That's crazy... and scary." Nudge said. "I don't wanna be anywhere close when you blow yourself up."

"What? You think I'm gonna explode myself along with them?" Niko said, indignant of the mere suggestion. "No, no, no. They're for... this!" With those words, he pulled one bomb out and threw it right at the mouth of a wolfos that was getting a bit too close. The wolfos swallowed the bomb and before long, the muted explosion was heard, followed by the limp fall of the wolfos' carcass. "They activate as soon as you rip them off, so be sure to throw them away as soon as you can." Niko explained.

Thus, with the added power of Niko's bomb suit, the four pirates managed to ward off the wolfos for long enough to run out of the chain of bridges. Eventually, the remaining wolfos decided to retreat with their tails between their legs, leaving the pirates to finally catch their breath while claiming victory at the same time.

"Whoa, what's this?" Niko asked when seeing the large door on the wall next to them.

"I don't know..." Gonzo acknowledged. "But if it leads to treasure, I say let's go in!"

Afterwards, the team pushed the door open, leading them to a large circular room with a large lever right in the middle of it. Before they could explore the room fully, though, the door slammed itself shut right behind them, locking them in.

* * *

Up... down. Up... down. The exercise seemed so tiring and tedious there was no way any normal man under normal circumstances would keep it up for a prolonged amount of time. But when survival is at stake, the limits of human strength can be stretched to impressive lengths. Tetra, Mako and Senza with Link in tow were all dealing with such limits as they tried to outsmart the Flambée, who seemed to enjoy playing with its newfound toys as it flew up and down the hole trying to give them a good sting.

"We have to find its weakness. Fast." Mako stated, attempting to analyze the bee's patterns.

"I say we clip its wings right off." Senza suggested.

"Fine. Good idea." Tetra said. "Now, how do you suggest we get close enough to it without being speared to do so?"

"Well I..." Senza quickly shut up when he noticed the folly in his plan. "Well, I don't see anybody else coming up with suggestions."

"Watch it!" Mako suddenly shouted, as the Flambée rushed headfirst towards Senza. The bearded man barely had any time to react and climbed up fast enough to just barely dodge the attack. In that move, however, Senza lost grip of his stowaway, making him fall... right above Flambée's head.

Being in such a precarious situation, Link had no other real option but hang on for dear life. He grabbed on to one of Flambée's antennae with his good arm and rode the overgrown bee like a cowboy. Flambée was trying all it could to drive Link out of its head, but the green-garbed boy latched on to that antenna with deadly determination, pulling and tugging it just to try to make Flambée's actions less violent. And less violent did they become, and more malleable did Flambée's movements become as well. As Link tugged and pulled around, he discovered that Flambée could not keep its concentration and its head kept swerving about, as if trying to shake something off... something that wasn't exactly Link.

"Did you just see that?" Tetra said to Senza and Mako, who quickly nodded. "I think we got 'im now. Senza, get ready to grab it. Mako, jump on top of it on my command and be ready to do some clipping. Link, try to steer the bee over to Senza and get ready to jump."

Senza began to prepare himself by tying up his forearms with vines to stay put in one place and have his hands free for the grabbing. Mako made his way above Senza and unsheathed his sabre to be ready for his role in the play. Meanwhile, Link struggled to maintain control of his makeshift steed, pulling the antenna while Flambée moved up and down involuntarily, trying to regain control of its own body. Just when it looked like the plan was a bust, Link pulled Flambée up right at Senza's level and was about to make it fly to his general direction.

But of course, you all know about best-laid plans and all that jazz...

Suddenly, Flambée used a great inner strength and recovered just long enough to set his own flight pattern... right towards Tetra. The young captain was shocked and vulnerable beyond a timely reaction, and Flambée was not stopping no matter what. Link decided to sacrifice his position and jumped clean ahead of the bee and clung on a vine with his bruised left arm with all the strength he could muster, and with his good right arm he pulled out his shield, then swung right in front of Tetra just in time to block the incoming stinger. The pressure the flying monster brought upon Link's shield was enough to create a rather hefty dent on it. Despite that, and the fact that the pressure had the indirect side effect of squashing Tetra to the wall _and_ that his left arm could give out any moment, Link held fast on his spot, his determination unwavering. He knew he had stuff worth protecting, and a little discomfort was not going to make him dissolve his resolve.

But, man, was that overgrown bee stubbornly persistent.

"GROAR!" A screechy brave cry rang out from above. Suddenly, the yellow flying menace gave into the pressure of its new handler... Mako. The nervous wreck of a pirate was desperately clinging onto the bee's antenna with his left hand while trying to swipe off its wings with his sabre on his right hand. Flambée's wings, however, moved way too fast for him to accomplish much of anything with them. Thankfully, his intervention gave Link just enough breathing room to go back on the offensive. Link quickly climbed up the vines just enough to be above Flambée, and jumped right on it. At this moment, Flambée was just struggling to stay in flight, while Link and Mako instinctively swapped positions to try and continue the proposed plan. Link grabbed the antenna and handled the bee with his previous expertise, while Mako made good use of having two good hands to manage to grab a wing (after getting a few nasty slaps on the hand) and with one fast slash, he cut it off.

The pain was so severe, that Flambée rushed back in pain, slamming back-first into a wall, right before falling unconsciously to the floor below, leaving Mako stamped right on the wall.

"I'm... I'm ok." Mako stuttered.

And Link... found himself smack dab in the middle of the air, floating as if he had been wearing some sort of hover tunic. For the briefest of times, the young lad had the otherworldly experience of being truly weightless, of being like a leaf, being idly floated up on the air, subjected by the current below, cradled by the gentle winds, lifted by the will of the Goddesses themselves.

Of course, it was all just an illusion.

In a fraction of a second, Link found himself falling down the same abyss that claimed his previous opponent. He flailed around, attempting to reach some sort of vine, but despite his best efforts, he was too far from any wall to reach at anything. Suddenly, he felt something latch on to his right arm. With the same impressive strength that he was grabbed on, he was also pulled right into a wall, where he wasted no time to find a stepping stone to stay on. When he looked up, he received the pleasant surprise of finding out his savior was none other than Tetra herself. Strangely enough, instead of showing signs of a struggle or annoyance, Tetra was finding herself chuckling over the odd role reversal.

"Well... this, uh... this takes me back." Tetra commented, attempting to remain serious despite her unusual giddiness. "Remember when we first met? And I had to reach out just so you wouldn't stupidly fall of a cliff?"

Link responded to Tetra's reaction in kind, producing a cheeky smile towards his rescuer. Soon after, the team completed its descent without much trouble, landing softly on Flambée's carcass. Upon inspecting the new environment, they found a large, unnatural architecture that seemed like it was once part of an ancient civilization before it was forgotten by time and swallowed whole by this incredibly large forest.

"Where did this one come from?" Senza asked.

"I don't know for sure..." Tetra wondered, looking around to see if there was any way around it. "But I'm willing to guess that is our next destination. If only we could find the door..."

Link took a moment to contemplate the structure in front of him. The gray and green wall housed very specific and ornate squared designs of various shapes and forms, all very meticulously symmetrically aligned. Every single line carved into the stone was perfectly horizontal or vertical, giving a sense of order and care taken when this design was brought upon. So much care, in fact, that the odd circular carving stood out like a sore thumb, however small it could be. Link approached the wall and touched the circular carving, triggering it to sink inside the structure. Suddenly, a great tremor shook the insides of the tree, making rubble, dirt, and vines fall all around. Then, a large part of the wall started moving away, revealing a brand new entrance for the crew.

"My, my... what would we do without you, Link." Tetra said as she took a good look at what just happened, succeeding in making Link blush, much to his embarrassment. "Let's go, guys. Destiny awaits."

* * *

"What manner of architecture is this?" Mako wondered as he became bewildered by the whole spectrum of the place they were currently inhabiting. Save for a small flat part dead center, the whole room was shaped like the inside of a perfect sphere, with strange markings across it, countering the organized detailing of the wall outside. On the very top, a single humongous chandelier hung precariously, with a sharp tip pointing straight down and dangerous-looking spikes all around the sides.

"You think that'll fall?" Senza asked.

"You want it to fall?" Tetra asked back, beginning to search into her bag of items.

"NO!" Senza promptly yelled. "Please! I don't think if I could survive THAT again."

"Yeah... We don't wanna repeat _that_ disaster." Tetra concurred, tying up her bag.

Suddenly, the flat ground below them began shaking ferociously, making the pirates hang on to each other. Before anybody could say anything, though, the floor shot up like a lid giving in to too much pressure, shooting the pirates right to the chandelier, and forcing them to hang on to it for dear life. They managed to climb up to the relative safety of the chandelier just in time to look down and see what exactly made such a tremendous force as to launch the four of them so high.

"It's... huge!" Tetra exclaimed.

"It's... long!" Senza interjected.

"It's..." Mako tried to find the words for it. "It's..."

Speedy Belly Crawler

**Moldorm**

An incredibly large worm wriggled his way out of the hole in the middle of the floor and began to accelerate all around the spheric room. His round, yellow body looked like it was looking to mark its territory, leaving a gooey trail wherever it went through.

"Well, this is bad." Mako commented. "It was bad enough to try and climb that room as it was. How are we supposed to fight this monster properly?"

the group wondered about their probable plan of attack, when all of a sudden, an all-too-familiar voice rang out from above them.

"Oy! Miss Tetra! Senza! Mako!" Gonzo yelled, sticking his arm out from an opening where the chandelier's chain protouded from.

"Hi, Link!" Niko yelled, sticking out his arm as well. "How are you?"

"Miss Tetra! There's some sort of mechanism here tied to a chain." Gonzo explained. "I can't see well enough down there to see what exactly is attached to the chain, but it looks you're on it. Should I try engaging it?"

The guys at the chandelier pondered the possibilities of Gonzo activating the "mechanism". Suddenly, an inspiration burst into Link's mind, one that felt like it had been ingrained on him many, many generations ago. He looked over to Tetra, who seemed to have a sly look upon her face and was just looking around as well.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Tetra asked Link, to which the green lad nodded. The two of them grabbed on to the corners of the chandelier, bracing themselves for the incoming action, while Mako and Senza hurried to the chain in the middle and grasped it like their life depended on it.

"Activate it, Gonzo." Tetra ordered.

"You heard her, guys!" Gonzo, in turn, ordered the guys under his command. "engage it!" Nudge and Zuko immediately pulled the lever, making the mechanism move and making the chandelier move and spin slowly but surely, until...

... until it was pulled right up to the ceiling, crashing violently and shaking off-balance everybody on the chandelier.

"OW!" Tetra yelled out in pain. Annoyed, she lashed out at the ones above the ceiling. "The other way, idiots."

"Whoops." Nudge said apologetically. They quickly crank the lever the other way, activating the mechanism the other way, making the chandelier spin and lower softly.

"Ok, swing now!" Tetra ordered Link, who began pushing and pulling at the corner of the chandelier, making it swivel around the room. "More! We have to reach the wall!" With unwavering determination, Link and Tetra made their best efforts to swing the chandelier until it could reach a wall. For the longest of times, it looked like they were not going to make it and the chandelier would just idly fall down to the ground. Then, Senza and Mako decided to let go of the chain and give the chandelier one good push by rushing from the center and crashing right on the corner. This effort gave the chandelier just enough push to reach a marking on the wall, which served as a rail system for the chandelier, which began moving as if it were a train on a set of tracks.

The tracks were working in tandem with the chain mechanism to spin the chandelier and make it a veritable weapon against Moldorm. All that was missing was the proper timing. And of course, proper timing was something that these people lacked while going around at high speeds.

"When it's within our range, we... WHOA!" Tetra yelled without finishing her instructions, surprised by the sudden move by Mako to try and attack the massive worm. The chandelier bounced right off the tracks, making its large spike at the bottom shoot sparks at it scratched the surface of the bottom, before using its remaining momentum to latch on to a track again. "What was that just now!?"

"I thought I had a shot." Mako justified himself.

"Okay, then. New rule: everybody waits until I say attack. Got it?" Tetra enforced upon the rest. Mako meekly nodded, while Senza and Link stood by their triggers in the chandelier. Tetra kept a good watch at Moldorm, who squirmed around rather quickly and erratically, waiting for a good chance to bring about the massive ceiling decoration upon its face. Just then, she noticed how every so often, Moldorm would go in circles on the same spot, giving them a wide open chance to strike.

"Okay, on my mark." Tetra announced. The three accompanying her grabbed hold of the triggers, ready to pull them on a moment's notice. Tetra looked around, shifting her sights between her target and the tracks the chandelier was following and pinpointed their attack range. "Ready..." She raised her arm, providing a visual clue to the others. As soon as Moldorm was close enough to them, she lowered her arm. "Now!"

[CLANK!]

[BOING!]

"WHOA!" Mako yelled out after feeling the tremendous knockback force of the worm's head upon the chandelier, making them bounce with reckless abandon right back to the tracks. "What was that just now?"

"I thought we had a shot." Tetra justified herself.

"Huh?" Mako stopped for a second to understand what just happened. "No, not that. We did make contact, but we just bounced off. Why?"

"Well, it's obvious that its head isn't the weak point." Senza pointed out. "There should be another point... perhaps its tail end?"

Tetra looked over at Moldorm one more time, seeking out a probable weak spot. Upon hearing this, her gaze shifted to the worm's tail. There, she noticed how the rear side was a bright red, while the rest of its body was a smooth yellow. "Wait, that's it!" Tetra exclaimed. "The tail! We oughta aim for it's tail." Sensing the newly discovered opportunity, Tetra grabbed hold of her trigger and waited for the perfect chance to strike. "Hold still so I can hit you."

After some waiting, the oversized worm gave his back to the pirates, giving them the chance they sought. "Now!" Tetra yelled, pulling her trigger to shoot the chandelier off the tracks. What followed was an inhumanly loud wail of pain coming out of Moldorm's mouth, followed by a frantically fast attempt at a getaway, foiled by the fact that the place was sealed from the half-point down. "Yes!" Tetra celebrated her upper hand quite loudly, something that wasn't exactly the best thing Moldorm would want to hear right now.

"Eh... Miss Tetra?" Mako tried getting his captain's attention.

"What? Can't you see I want to enjoy this?" Tetra retorted.

"Yeah, that's nice and all..." Mako explained, "but you might want to quiet down for a moment."

"Now why would I want to do that?" Tetra questioned.

"For... that, perhaps?" Mako sheepishly pointed behind Tetra. When the young captain turned around, she met face-to-face with the giant, seething Moldorm, who screeched fiercely right at her face.

"... Miss Tetra?" Mako wondered.

Tetra looked straight at Moldorm, gaze unwavering despite the mucus makeup the worm gave her. She cleaned her face up a bit before directing herself to her opponent. "Of course you realize, this means war."

As quickly as they could muster, the chandelier group was already back on the tracks, dashing around the level and rounding up a raging Moldorm. The worm did not stay put for long, and began giving chase. Moldorm's speed easily matched the chandelier's, and if it weren't for its constant need to zigzag to get some vertical distance, the chandelier would have already been demolished. "How are we gonna get the upper hand on it if it keeps chasing us?" Senza pointed out. Upon noticing this, Link began looking around for alternatives... and saw how the tracks went all the way up to the ceiling area. Now he just needed to know how to get up there. He saw how the tracks branched off in certain parts, and there was an odd switch close to them, so he did the logical thing. He pulled out his boomerang and aimed at the switch and hoped things worked out just right.

"Well, we're going to have to stun 'im, and... Whoa!" Tetra yelped in surprise as the chandelier took a sharp 90 degree incline, climbing right to the ceiling area. "What the... why are we going up? Grab on, We're going up. We're... we're right above the worm." Upon realizing their advantageous position, her eyes narrowed in astute determination. "Hold on, boys. Time to rain pain from above."

"I don't like how she said that." Mako informed his worries to an equally worried Senza.

"I think she meant we're going... [gulp] down. Fast." Senza said, feeling no need to sugarcoat the situation.

Tetra looked in wait how the giant yellow worm thrashed about underneath them, trying in vain to follow them up to the higher half of the dome. In one incredibly inspired move, Moldorm used all of its strength to rush about as high as it could, and actually managed to get scarily close to the chandelier... before losing its momentum and falling flat on its back, unable to move for a few precious moments.

"Here we go! Hold on tight!" Tetra said before pulling on her trigger.

"Well... we had a good run, buddy." Senza said plainly to Mako, right before the chandelier lost connection to the tracks and plummeted down to where Moldorm was.

[CRASH!]

The Chandelier was a mess. About half of it was broken in shards strewn around Moldorm's tail end. Laying around the debris, four figures groaned weakly and struggled to get on their feet.

"It's times like these..." Tetra wheezed as she pulled her hair out of her face. "... when I really feel alive."

Suddenly, Moldorm shook wildly, making everybody down there to scurry away from the beast as much as possible. Fortunately, the worm only gave a few tugs as it spat out a Heart Container and stopped moving altogether.

"Finally, the quiet part." Senza blurted out.

"Well, that heart is all fine and all... but where is the treasure we were supposed to get?" Mako asked.

"Whoo!" Niko's voice rang out from the ceiling, overjoyed at some sort of discovery. "Look at all the rupees we found! I call dibs!"

"No way, swabbie!" Nudge stopped the shrimpy pirate, pulling rank on him. "I get dibs on this treasure."

"Mine..." Zuko said, sliding right between Nudge's legs and straight to the treasure.

"Would you guys behave?" Gonzo called out to order. "Don't you guys forget how we do things here?" He then pulled right between them, pulling Zuko out of the treasure pile. "Besides, I'm second in command, and I get dibs."

"Hey!" Tetra yelled from the bottom of the spheric room. "I hope you're not thinking of keeping it all to yourselves!"

"Eh... No, Miss Tetra." Gonzo quickly yelled out of fear. "I... I was just trying to secure the pages you seek, Ma'am."

"Well, good. We're going up." Tetra said while trying to help the others up on their feet. "Come on, that's only a flesh wound, Mako." she said as the smart one stumbled his way to his feet.

"Hey, ma. I grew wings!" Mako said, seemingly delirious.

"... What?" Tetra wondered before shrugging it off. "Just climb up the chain, will ya?" She then went over to Link, who was about to grab the Heart Container. "Don't get any ideas, Link. That has to go through me first, you know." She then grabbed it at exactly the same time as Link... yet the Container did not break like the others. "Weird. Now what?" Link thought over the options, and finally decided to relinquish the Heart Container entirely to Tetra. "What? No tug fight? No complaining? No... no... no nothing?" Tetra wondered, feeling confused towards Link's actions, who just answered her bewilderment with a smile.

"If you stay down there any longer, there'll be nothing left when you get up there!" Senza taunted as he started climbing the chandelier's chain.

"What? No way, not as long as I'm in charge!" Tetra snapped off to answer her subordinate. "Race you there, Link." She said as she ran over to the chain to climb up. Chuckling, Link moved over to their very, very high exit.

* * *

"Would you look at this, sister?"

"Interesting, indeed, sister."

"The girl doesn't seem to know what she is heading towards."

"All those pages she's gathered should be clue enough."

"Ignorant, this princess turned out to be, sister."

"Better for us, isn't it, sister?"

"Yes. Yes, it is. We will be able to revive the Great Evil..."

"... And she will gladly help us achieve our goals!"

"Gwee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!"

"Gwee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!"


	8. The FeelGood Turnabout

Nine out of ten doctors prefer REVIEW ANSWERIN' time!

Ri2: Thanks. It was one of the bosses I really, REALLY wanted to write out, so I had to make it as awesome as I could.

lilgreenfox: Thanks for the words of support. I continiously strive to be better than before (and I know I have a long way to go, anyway). As for Makar... I'll admit he's not in my initial plans... but the book wasn't initially, nor was Dante, Mendoza, Venus, or a couple other things, so never say never.

NH3: Whu...? Wait... Hush. HUSH, I SAY! Seriously, though, I tried to introduce the... foreshadowing... just so "it" doesn't come out of left field, and to show that there's a puppet and a puppetmaster. And now I've said too much.

Tetra: I you love cliffhangers, you'll fall head over heels over what I have planned for the next few chapters... [insert evil laugh]

(As a side note, this is officially the longest anything (story, essay, project, whatever) I've ever written. Yay, me.)

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 8

The Feel-Good Turnabout

--Last time on "Overlord of the Land"...--

"Incoming!"

[BOOM!]

"[cough, cough] We can't go on like this. Please tell me you have a strategy, Link."

Tetra and Link, completely pitch-black and covered in soot, were hiding behind the rock formations the cave-like room provided them. They did not want to remain sitting around there, but they had no choice... not when they were stuck without a plan and not much to run to, as they had been ambushed by a pair of giant, one-eyed, bomb-hurling golems better known as:

Bombarding Cyclops Brethren

**Hinox Twins**

Link took a good look inside his item bag for any useful things he might've packed. He turned over to Tetra with a beamy smile on his face as he pulled out... his deku leaf. "Well, I think that is nice..." Tetra began calmly before forming a dead-serious stare, "... if you want to breeze those guys to death! Come on, think!" Dejected, Link stuffed the Deku leaf back in, and rummaged blindly into the bag. Then, he hit something solid, and promptly whipped it out. "Your Skull Hammer, eh?" Tetra wondered over the massive hammer. "You know that before you get close enough and swing it to one of them, you'll have bombs exploding all over your face, right?" Link sighed and threw the hammer into the bag before trying once more. He came upon a small, light item... perhaps this was it.

"Eh... the hourglass thing? Why are you still holding on to that?" Tetra asked Link, bewildered that he would bring such a useless item to battle. Link looked at the empty Phantom Hourglass and gave an odd shrug, being as confused as Tetra.

Feeling like options were running out, Link put his head into the bag to try and see what he was trying to find. Then, a muffled squeal of joy was heard before Link pulled his head out of the bag to triumphantly hold out his bow and arrows. "Of course!" Tetra exclaimed. "You can shoot them in the eye, which will blind..." Link promptly motioned Tetra to keep quiet. Evidently, he had a better idea than that. Alongside his bow, Link had also taken out his green Magical Glove. Once he swiftly outfitted himself with the enchanted glove, he powered up an arrow with the power of ice and aimed it right at one of the Hinox. Just then, the targeted Hinox caught wind of the situation, and pulled out a bomb, ready to launch. Link shot... and Hinox threw.

[Crackle!]

[BOOM!]

"[cough, cough, cough] Next time, warn me when they're throwing more bombs." Tetra complained as she peeled herself off the wall. After cleaning her face enough, she finds herself face to face with the ugliest, meanest, most _frozen_ golem she's seen yet. "Hey, not bad. Now he's ripe pickings for the bombchus." Tetra delighted herself in her comanion's success. "Now, if you would please do it for the other one_ before he rams us silly with __**his charge attack!**_" Suddenly, Link looked towards the other Hinox, who was filled with rage by seeing his twin encased in an ice prison and began using the mightiest of his abilities, and it just so happens that he decided to charge straight towards the main attacker: Link. Shaken and stirred, but not beaten, Link powered up another ice arrow and aimed it at the Hinox, while the raging golem prepared another bomb for an apparent kamikaze attack.

[Crackle!]

...

And nothing else. As Link opened his eyes, he was within inches of a frozen-in-midair bomb, which considering the scratch on its side, it must have been grazed by the ice arrow on its way to the Hinox, who stood frozen right in front of him. After asserting that the bomb wouldn't blow up on his face, Link could finally sigh in relief.

"Wow, that was close, right Link?" Tetra taunted, almost too playfully so. "But then again, it wouldn't be exciting if it weren't like that." She then began walking away from their hiding spot, leaving Link wondering how could she take things so easily. "You might wanna get away from them, you know." Tetra warned her companion, while she held a bombchu on her hands, ready to be set off. Link rushed off the Hinox Twins' side just as the bombchu was let down to run its course to the frozen golems. The explosion of the suicidal mechanical rats triggered the latent bomb nearby, making an already won battle borderline overkill, shattering the Hinox Popsicles to pieces and blanketing that particular place in the cave white with ice.

"Don't you think we were a little... cold... with them?" Tetra asked Link, with a sly look on her face. This was only met with a rather annoyed stare by Link. "Ok, ok. No more puns. I get it. [sigh] Spoilsport." Tetra whined whilst she turned away from Link in a half-pout, making the adventurous one chuckle slightly.

Just then, a Heart Container appeared from within the icy remains, accompanied by an old key. Tetra shot a sly gaze at Link, and he responded her in kind. Suddenly, dust clouds formed at an alarmingly high rate as the short but intense race between captain and subordinate took place. Link reached forward with one final leap of faith while Tetra skidded the final inches away. When the dust clouds settled, the pair found themselves holding the same Heart Container, still complete and unscathed.

"Heh... These things can be so indecisive with that whole we-break-down-except-when-we-don't bit." Tetra joked lightly, having no visible resulting change in Link's demeanor despite his usual smile. She thought over things a bit, and slowly began to loosen her grip on the Container. "Well... I think you better hold on to it, anyway. It would make things even, as far as I can tell." Tetra finally let go of the Container, filling the air with an awkward silence for a few agonizing seconds. "So... yeah... You're welcome."

...

"I'm... gonna get that key now." Tetra announced -rather weakly at that- and turned away from her partner.

'_What the heck happened back there?'_ Tetra mentally kicked herself for her uncharacteristically odd behavior. _'Since when did I start to lose it over the most trivial of matters? A crystal heart... ha! A key... ha! I phase not for these things. And...'_ She slowly turned around to sneak a quick glance at her partner. It seemed awkward behavior was contagious, as the boy in green was still holding onto that Heart Container, staring at it almost trance-like, as if deep in thought. '_... And then there's him. He who I am stuck with until I fulfill this destiny thing or until either of us dies, whichever comes first. Link... heh, I still remember that first day, when we were on his home island. He wanted to hitch a ride on the pirate ship so bad to try and rescue his sister... It was just too much. He was so desperate, so confused, so ready to throw it all away... and yet so c... c... Come on! What's wrong with me? Get back in control, girl, get back in control.'_

Just then, a loud whistling echoed from across the cave, beseeching Tetra's attention. Gonzo crept his elongated neck into its perilous entrance. "Oy! Miss Tetra! Link! Are you alright? You're pitch black and covered in soot!"

"Why, thank you, Gonzo. We hadn't noticed." Tetra sneered sarcastically. "Now throw us a line so we can get outta here." Then, as promptly as they were ordered, the pirates threw out a rope, tightening it around a stone pillar for added strength. As Tetra was being pulled out of the room, she noticed there was something not quite right. "Link? Where did Link..." Before she could finish the question, though, Link appeared from right behind her and swiftly grabbed hold of the very end of the rope. Tetra opened her mouth instinctively, yet any anger she could harbor passed on rather quickly.

"What was it, Miss Tetra?"

"Eh... Nothing. Pull us out."

--And now we return to your regularly scheduled reading.--

* * *

Sunshine blinded Tetra as she walked into the top deck of her ship. The sun glowed radiantly, half covered by the horizon, etching a rippling golden reflection upon the sea. "It's still early." She said absentmindedly. She had just woken up, still wearing her fire-red nightgown, her hair done on a loose ponytail to avoid excessive time making her bun. After a quick survey of the surroundings, she saw nobody on the top deck with her... not that she expected to, anyway. Last night's cave raid lasted way longer than they expected to, and they returned to the ship extremely tired and unable to even take off their boots. How she, who took the full burnt of the Hinox Twins attack, could be standing up at sunrise when the others were sleeping soundly was beyond her.

Tetra took a good, long look at Waarheid harbor, so very far away from her ship. Soon, shops should open, people will leave their homes, and daily life will begin for them. Meanwhile, she was trying to bring about a massive disruption in their way of living. She thought of this, and couldn't help but wonder why was she doing this? Of the lot of people she has been able to speak to, only the odd Miyahon had shown a true dislike to Emperor Dante's ways. Sure, he's seen as a threat to Dante, but if he's had some solid proof, where is this so-called "resistance", then? Was he alone in his efforts to overthrow the empire? Was it one of his wild fantasies concocted in that unbalanced mind of his? Was he, as Dante once put it so kindly, really a nutcase? She went through these things deeply in her mind and couldn't help but wonder, even for the slightest moment, whether all that she was doing was completely worthless. All that danger, all those monsters, the book's pages spread around in weird places... The only redeeming factor was the money, and they could easily get that through other means.

_Was_ this worthless? _Were_ the deities playing some soft of sick game, in which she was the unsuspecting pawn, and they would be having a laugh at all of her earnest efforts?

Just then, she felt something land gently on her shoulder. Tetra looked behind her and uttered a nearly-inaudible gasp when she saw Link looking back at her, a faint but sincere smile drawn on his face. On his right hand he had a yellowed piece of paper. As he handed the folded parchment, she could feel as though Link was somehow reading her mind. Old and tattered as the parchment looked, it was also official-looking, with a worn-out seal on a corner, and amidst the muddy writing she could make out the word "Waarheid". Tetra took the parchment from Link and began to read:

_BY DECREE # 13054-A_

_OF THE GREAT EMPEROR DANTE_

_RULER AND OVERLORD OF THE LAND OF WAARHEID_

FROM THIS MOMENT ON, ANY AND ALL ANTI-GOVERMENT

PROPAGANDA IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN BY LAW. ANY INDIVIDUAL

FOUND SPREADING ANTI-GOVERMENT SLANDER SHALL BE

ARRESTED ON THE SPOT AND SENT TO THE DUNGEONS,

WHERE HE OR SHE WILL AWAIT HIS/HER PROPER PUNISHMENT.

Tetra reread the official looking parchment, transfixed by its design. She passed a finger through the Seal of Waarheid at the bottom-right, just to make sure it was not just painted on.

"This... this was from that Miyahon guy?" Tetra asked, raising her gaze to meet Link's. He nodded once. "How did he get ahold of... So maybe he wasn't making all that up after all."

Tetra looked back down at the piece of parchment again, checking if it really meant what she thought it meant. When she looked back up, her face had transformed into her more familiar mischievous glare.

"I think it's about time we give the Emperor another little visit, don't you think?" She said. Link beamed at her, eager to get in on the action. "Wake the others. We got some planning to do." Link nodded and made a hasty retreat to the door leading to the lower decks.

"Link!" Tetra shouted before the kid in green opened the door. Link looked back at her quickly, making her stammer and hesitate slightly before clearing her throat to speak clearly. "Th... thanks." Link chuckled -not in mockery, Tetra understood, but in understanding- and waved her off as he disappeared behind the door.

* * *

The beginning of the day for the citizens of Waarheid was pretty normal. They normally woke up, they normally set about their business, cleaning their front yards, opening stores and schools, and doing very normal-like errands. They were complacent with their normal ways, so much that whenever something that was not normal, it would stick out like a sore thumb, making all the normal citizens to stand still and take notice. This was such a day, when amidst their normal preparations, a group of decidedly not-normal people came out seemingly from nowhere, tip-toeing conspicuously toward the town square, carrying around large duffel bags of stuff. People stood, quietly staring this odd crew and wondering whether circus was in town. The smallest one, a buck-toothed dirty blond guy with a blue handkerchief over his head looked back at the staring crowd and said: "Be vewy, vewy quiet. We'we difamatin' empewows. Eh-hehehehehehehehehehehe."

Once the group had settled themselves smack-dab in the middle of the plaza, they began building some sort of cone, aiming the wide part directly at the third floor of the Emperor's office. Bigger and bigger they built...

...

"Sir?"

"What is it, lieutenant?" Dante asked.

"B... behind you, sir..." The lieutenant pointed straight at the window behind the Emperor. Dante swiveled his chair to see the large cylindrical structure raising until it almost touched the window.

"Who the... Why is this...?"

Dante made to open the window, but before he could, it was blown open with an all too known voice, magnified several times over.

"_Emperor Dante!_" A young woman's voice echoed disturbingly loud, briefly deafening Dante off any other sounds. "_This is your better speaking! I believe you know why I am here again! I'm throwing you an open challenge, right here, right now!_"

Dante creaked his head just enough to see shimmering golden locks protruding from the smaller side of the cone. He was suddenly looking back at the daring face of the girl that made an unscheduled visit to his office a few weeks ago: the young pirate captain, Tetra.

"_You say that everybody here loves you!_" Tetra continued. "_I think differently! You say all those bad things told about you were all slander and lies! I say they hit the nail on the head pretty well! You know what else I think? I think we oughta be wondering who died and made you emperor! I think this town should reevaluate all those draconian laws you have, starting with THIS!_" She then held up the parchment she had. Immediately, her crew members started plastering copies of such decree all over the walls with fast-acting glue. Some of these posters also had "Dante drools" scribbled around the edges.

"HOW DID SHE GET THAT?!" Dante bellowed at his unsuspecting lieutenant, who could do little else than shrug fearfully and try and get some cover. "What else does she know?"

"_What else do I know, you might ask? Well, why don't you come down here and ask me in my face! And while we're in it, you could sign this unconditional surrender!_" She then pulled out a piece of paper which simply said: 'I QUIT. Signed: _______'

"GO!" Dante yelled out, furious at this outburst. "I want all soldiers to take them to the dungeons and do horrible, unspeakable things to them! Capture them by any means necessary! I want them out of MY country! NOW!" The lieutenant did not need to be told twice and bolted out of the Emperor's office as fast as he could to relay the instructions to the rest of the soldiers.

"And now it's when the fun begins." Tetra stated to her cronies. "Be ready for the onslaught. Now go to your positions."

"Yes, ma'am!" The crew said in unison and parted to different parts.

* * *

A set of soldiers began searching the north part of the city, and in no time they had a bead on one of the ruffians responsible. It was a tall, dark-haired fellow with a soul patch. He ran from the authorities, swerving left and right across streets, until...

"Dead end!" The first soldier shouted.

"We got 'im!" The second soldier expressed in deep satisfaction.

Nudge looked at the tall wall blocking him, then back at the three soldiers inching closer to him. He had to do something... something to stop them... to stop...

Suddenly he turned around to the wall and began counting. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, red light!" Nudge turned around to the soldiers, who seemed completely frozen in his gaze. Nudge's face gave one smug twist, complete with rising eyebrows. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, red light!" Nudge looked again. The soldiers were a little closer, but froze again, this time in weird positions. One of them looked like he was about to kick his partner's gut, for instance. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, red light!" Nudge looked back again. The soldiers were closer still, yet exhibited totally ridiculous stances. Nudge decided to walk over to the one that was standing by his very tippy toes. "So you're taking ballet now, uh?" He began teasing. The soldier did not budge, though. "Inventing a new dance craze? I mean, his arms say 'big, fat gorilla', but his feet say 'nancy-boy'. Where does it make sense?"

"Hey, you!" The soldier snapped at Nudge, wiggling a fat finger at the pirate's face. "Nobody calls me a..."

"Ooh, too bad, you moved. To the starting point with you. No whining, go on." Nudge reprimanded.

"Oh, man. Grumble, grumble." The outspoken soldier muttered under his breath as he walked right to the supposed starting point.

"1, 2, 3, red light!" Nudge looked back again. The soldiers were dangerously close now. He inspected the closest one, whose fingers were twitching involuntarily, as if trying to extend themselves to grab a hold of him. "Ok, ok. You win." Nudge said, letting the soldier touch his forearm. The other two soldiers relaxed from their frozen positions and began muttering joyfully. "Ok, you go there, on the wall, and we will race to get you first."

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, red light!" The soldier yelled out and looked back. He saw his partners frozen in place in mid-armpit-scratch... but Nudge was nowhere to be found. "Now where did he go?"

"Eh... I think we were supposed to arrest him." The third soldier said. To this, the first soldier muttered darkly under his breath.

* * *

"Step right up! Step right up!" One soldier overheard the commotion coming from a street corner. An open tent was pitched up rather hastily and it had attracted a healthy crowd. Inside the tent a prize game was set up, and none other than Niko was running it. "30 rupees per game. Three chances. Toss a ring to the bottles, and if you get one, you get a wonderful prize. Consolation prizes for you unlucky ones, too, so nobody loses! Step right up! Try your skill!"

"What's going on!" The soldier pushed his way to the front and confronted the small pirate, who looked nothing less than cheerful. "Who gave you permission to run this... this thing right in the middle of the street?"

"Oh, come on. Don't be such a spoilsport!" Niko retorted playfully, earning the quick approval of those around the tent. "It's just a harmless game. And to show you, I'll let you play one game for free. Limited timed offer, while supplies last, subject to availability, not available in Holodrum, results may vary, quid pro quo, deux ex machina." Niko slammed three metal rings on the table as he kept his fast talk all across the curious bystanders.

The soldier's glare shifted between the rings on the table and Niko right in front of him, wondering where the trick laid there. Hesitantly, he took the rings, weighted them, and decided to go through with the charade for the moment.

"Ooh, too bad." Niko said as the soldier missed his first ring so badly, one would think it was aiming at the next-door window instead. "Two more. You can do it."

The soldier was suddenly looking more concentrated on the game at hand, narrowing his eyes to try and choose a plausible target. He made a practice swing, then let go of the ring for real...

"Oh, so close." Niko commented, leading to a general "aww"-ing of the crowd.

The soldier was infuriated. He could feel victory so close... but her only had one more ring to go. It was now or never. He chose a cluster of bottles in the very middle as his target. It was bound to fall on one of those, he thought. He made a couple of practice swings to prevent himself from overshooting his target. His forehead was brimming with sweat, the onlookers were looking on anxious, Niko was whistling without a care in the world...

The ring flew through the air. For the briefest of times, it looked as though it would not reach the destination, but then a loud crystal 'CLANG' proved otherwise. The ring had latched on to a bottle neck, and, spinning wildly, began it's descent. The soldier was already raising his fists in victory, but then...

[THUD!][CLANG!]

The ring began rising again. In a gravity and inertia-defying stunt, the ring rose from the bottle neck and began swerving slightly to the left. Then with another 'CLANG' and a 'THUD', the ring dropped suddenly, falling between two bottles, straight into the ground.

The soldier and the crowd stood slack-jawed at the events. Niko, standing by a lever labeled 'magnet', simply shrugged and clapped slowly. "It was a decent try, Mr. Soldier, but you win some and you lose some. But that's all right, because you get the consolation prize!"

The soldier smiled lightly at this, and held his hands forward for this prize. "One free Chomp!" Niko announced, talking out a large, round, black beast with razor-sharp teeth. Upon seeing this, the soldier freaked, which prompted the Chomp to attack him viciously.

"Well, that's all the time I have for today. I will see you some other time, and until then, keep those rings spinning!" Niko said before throwing a large smoke bomb, blinding the witnesses. When the smoke cleared, the only thing left behind was a sign with one of the posters plastered on it and a crude drawing of Dante with "Dante drools" written below.

* * *

"Hmm... I think that's her."

The lieutenant that was on Dante's office before was hiding behind a fruit stand, taking the opportunity to try a stakeout move. Luckily for him, Tetra stumbled into his field of view, and her back turned to him, to boot.

"This is real good. I'll capture the leader, and the Emperor will definitely forgive me for earlier!" the lieutenant whispered to himself. "I may even get a promotion! This is just too good."

Very quietly, the lieutenant sneaked out of the fruit stand and started walking towards a Tetra that was enjoying a cute doggy chasing his own tail. Then, he quickly pulled out his sword, alerting Tetra, and gave one mighty swing.

Suddenly, Tetra's body started glowing purple.

[TWACK!]

The sword didn't even graze Tetra's clothes. Instead, the knockback made the lieutenant's arms severely shaky, making him drop his weapon. In reaction, Tetra's face looked so venomously angry it made the lieutenant double back.

"So... thought about doing me in?" Tetra sneered. She then began shoving him at every statement. "Thought about taking advantage of my blind side, huh? Have you no shame? Have you no decency? You thought you could get the easy way out. You probably thought that I was defenseless. Nothing more than a damsel in distress, right? Wrong. I am more than capable of defending myself. But I won't turn like a coward like you. I challenge you in a battle of gentlemen, and gentle-women, with established rules, stipulated situations and plenty witnesses to ensure a clean, fair fight. Now sit!"

When he dared look away from the scowling Tetra, he noticed he's been pushed into the corner of a boxing ring, complete with stands full of watchers. Before he could react, he was stripped of all his armor and weapons, and outfitted with two boxing gloves by Gonzo.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Senza shouted through a miniature version of the large cone. "Welcome to Classic Hyrulean Boxing! In this corner..." Senza stifled a laugh after seeing how puny the lieutenant looked without his armor. "In this corner... Heh... does he even have a name? Shows how important he is to this story. Anyway... The lieutenant!"

The lieutenant got up and waved at the crowd, only to get scattered applause.

"And in this corner..." Senza began, then his voice lowered in deep respect. "A lady who needs no introduction. Kind, benevolent, and just. Among sea-dogs, she stands on top. Slow to lose her cool, and fast to aid. When it comes to a healthy and fair rule, you can always, _always_, count on her. Ladies and gentlemen, the heir to the Throne of Hyrule, Miss Tetra."

"Thank you." Tetra said, taking her sweet time between sipping a soft drink to react. She stood up to wave at the crowd, who corresponded in a loud cheer.

"All right, boxers to the center of the ring." Senza called, and both Tetra and the lieutenant walked up to him. "I want a good, clean fight, ok? So... I want none of _this_!" He said as he poked the lieutenant's eyes. "None of _this_!" He pulled on the lieutenant's nose. "None of _this_!" He twisted the lieutenant's arm. "None of _this_!" He gave the lieutenant a wet willie. "None of _this_!" He kicked the lieutenant in the leg. "None of _this_!" He stomped the lieutenant's foot. "And definitely, none of _this_!" He pulled the lietunent's ear, dragging him to the ground.

"Hmm... So let me get this straight..." Tetra said, sounding intrigued. "I can't do nothing like this..." she said as she poked the lieutenant's eyes, "... or like this..." she pulled on the lieutenant's nose, "... or like this..." she twisted the lieutenant's arm, "... or like this..." she gave the lieutenant a wet willie, ... or like this..." she kicked the lieutenant in the leg, "... or like this..." she stomped the lieutenant's foot, "... or, definitely, nothing like _this_." She pulled the lieutenant's ear, dragging him to the ground.

"Nope." Senza said plainly.

"And how about this?" Tetra asked as she pulled out her grappling hook and tied his legs together, pulling him and making him fall flat on his back. Senza shook his head disapprovingly. "And this one's my favorite!" She said as she pulled the lieutenant back up, only to throw herself backwards, landing on her hands and kick him right on the chin, sending him right back to his corner.

"Nope. None of that." Senza said.

"Oh, well. Just checking." Tetra answered, walking back to her corner.

Senza climbed out of the ring and sat on the announcer's table. "At the sound of the bell..." He said, and promptly rang the bell. Tetra stood up with a spring to her step, while the lieutenant wobbled up. The lieutenant had barely managed to make a few strides forward before Tetra walked to him and pulled a mighty hook to his left temple, making the lieutenant fall down like a sack of wet mice.

"1, 3, 7, 9, Knockout!" Senza quickly counted. "The winner!" He announced as he raised Tetra's arm, as the crowd cheered loudly.

"So how are we doing?" Senza asked Tetra quietly.

"So far so good." Tetra answered. "I just hope Link can deliver what he promised."

* * *

"What are those idiots doing? They're running in circles again."

Dante paced around his office restlessly, often looking out the window to see how things were going. The results were not pretty, and his rough face was already stretched to its limits given the amount of times he passed his hands through it. Seeing the window hanging around by merely one hinge (thanks to that audio blast earlier) did not help matters either.

"My head's about to burst, and I haven't even had lunch. This day has been the worst ever."

Then, there was a light knock on the office's door. "Come in..." Dante said. A small man with bags in his eyes and pronounced sideburns wearing white clothes and a white-yet-slightly-stained apron came in. "Sir... Lunch is ready... in the dining room."

"Well, it's about time." Dante spat. He quickly left the office, giving one last glance at the scene outside the window, and headed for the dining room led by the small "cook".

Just as the door slammed shut, though, Link took a quick glance down and started to lower himself from his hiding position right above the window outside the office. As he busted his way inside, he noticed that the office was incredibly bare. Outside of some chairs, a table and Dante's desk, there was nothing of worth inside. Not even a painting where one would try and hide something on. He knew he had very little time, and he needed to make progress fast. He then remembered the last time he was here, soldiers came out of the walls, so there must be a way to open them and examine the rooms beyond. He examined Dante's desk, and sure enough, there was a pedal in the floor that, when Link pressed it, it made the walls on both sides of the office move. Despite the discovery, these small rooms only housed a couple of wooden chairs and a rickety table with a half-finished sandwich. Frustrated, Link began searching every wall, thinking there would be some sort of hidden secret to it. Finding nothing, Link began pacing the room, wondering what he had missed. The surge of frustration was enveloping him: he had so very little time, and there was nothing there that would help them. All the efforts of today came down to what he could find, and so far it was all for naught. Utterly helpless, he kicked the table, trying to vent off his anger.

Then, a mixture of feelings and sensations: a sharp, throbbing pain in his toes; a deep, full, wooden sound complete with a slight dragging sound; a sense of renewed wonderment and curiosity; the realization that there was more to the office than the surface. In a sudden stroke of genius, he pulled out his sword and ripped the table's fancy dressings away. Beneath it, a giant wooden crate labeled "TOP SECRET", sitting beneath a simple oval glass top. He took off the glass top and explored the crate's contents: papers, parchments, official documents... laws. Link's eyes lit up when he realized the depths of his discovery. Now, all that was left was figuring out how to move this hefty crate.

* * *

"Over here, sir..." The squat 'cook' led Dante into a chair on the dining room and seated him quickly before disappearing behind the door. Dante sat quietly, yet impatiently, waiting for the food to be delivered, and checking the cleanliness of the utensils. Suddenly, the door slammed open and a small 'cook' with broken owl-shaped glasses came in and hurried to the table with a covered plate.

"Here you are, sir. Enjoy." the 'cook' hastily said and set the plate on the table before disappearing a moment later. Dante did not take notice of the hurried manner of the cook's behavior. After all, the stomach ruled at that moment.

"Man, I am so hungry I could eat an..." Before Dante could finish speaking, an odd tentacle sneaked out of the covered plate. Shocked but curious, Dante flipped out the the cover to find a large octorok squished inside. The octorok suddenly extended its slimy extremities and grabbed Dante in a tight squid-hug.

"ARGH!" Dante yelled as he struggled to get out of the octorok's grip. "I am SO over exotic food!"

* * *

"I've been thinking..." Senza said to Tetra, once most of the crew had reunited in their selected meeting place near a drab fountain, "Don't you think some of us... you know, the big guys, should have gone with Link and helped him? Just in case?"

"Nope." Tetra stated plainly. "I need you guys to flank me. I'm the captain, and I need my muscle close by. Besides, Link had a plan, and considering his track record, compared to yours..." She said as she shot a judging glare at her crew, "I trust him."

Just then, a light stomping sound was heard from up north. The stomping was steady and grew closer and closer. Then, out of the thick trees in the park, a large crate was hopping steadily towards them. On top of it, Link sat calmly, Wind Waker baton in hand. Whenever Link flicked the baton up, the crate would hop forward, and whenever he twisted the baton, the crate would turn in that direction. Upon seeing this sight, the pirates exchanged looks of amazement and bewilderment, mouths agape and fingers pointing weakly. Tetra was particularly surprised, so much that she could not hide her glee. It wasn't her usual tenacious smile, it was something more pure, more "childish", as she would say herself. Strange, considering nobody other than Link himself knew what was inside that crate, but Tetra, looking straight at Link, somehow knew as well. Turning over to Senza, her face slowly turned back to her smarmy gaze as she reiterated: "He hasn't failed me yet."

"You mean that's..." Gonzo interjected, pointing at the approaching crate. "How do you...? You never mentioned a crate before."

"RUN!"

The sudden shrill scream came as a shocking reminder of where they stood. Any sort of good feeling the pirates might have had immediately left them as they recognized the owner of the voice. It was Mako, running like a madman towards them.

"He's coming! The octorok didn't stand a chance! I saw it, how he blasted it! I tried to lure him off, but he's too good!" Mako made a mad dash towards the Pirates' meeting place and hid behind Gonzo, who was nearest to him. Behind Mako, a large, hulking figure approached, getting the more able members of the pirate crew on point. As it came closer, Dante could be noticed, seething and still trying to take off pieces of fried octorok from his clothes.

"That's my crate." Dante declared. "I want it. Now."

"This crate?" Tetra asked, pointing at the crate right behind her. "This crate we captured through controvertible courses of conduct? Care to cease your callous, cross crusade, could you? I don't see your name on it, anyway."

Dante pointed straight at the crate in response. Tetra turned around curiously and noticed a large sign on the crate that read: "PROPERTY OF EMPEROR DANTE. SWIPERS, NO... JUST DON'T."

Tetra turned back around, sporting a toothy grin and raising her arms in a mock-shrug. "Well... That could be any Dante. It's a pretty common name, you know. Why, in my line of work, I know at least 3 Dantes. One of them really loves to use guns and swords at the same time, the weirdo."

Dante was not amused.

"Ok, look." Tetra stated while ripping off a piece of singed Oktorok off Dante's suit. "If you have some sort of bizzarro nostalgic attachment to the crate, I won't take it from you. But if you're so stuck on a grimy old wooden box, then boy, do you have problems."

"I have a problem, alright." Dante said, staring down Tetra's skull. "And it's with you, of all things. You make a mockery of my army, you question my rule, you parade around my country like you own the place, and you think that your little parlor tricks will make me step down. You say you have me cornered, yet it is you who is trapped. I'll warn you only one time: This?" He said while waving at his scowling face. "This is nothing. You've yet to see me really angry. You wanna see me when I get really angry?"

"Try me." Tetra said. "I'd love to see you try. Because you don't even know who I am, right? Do you even _wonder_ why I'm here in the first place?" Tetra stared up to Dante's mug defiantly, while Link, having caught wind of Tetra's words, groaned and facepalmed preemptively. "I am the heir to Hyrule's throne, called forth by the goddesses themselves." Link's stunned face said it all. He cleared his ears to see if he was hearing right, but there was no mistaking: Tetra was definitely coming to grips with her own identity. "You say you get bad when you get angry? Go ahead. I've battled worse. Can you really do better than that lousy shallow-water pirate Mendoza? Come on. Make my day."

"Why you little..."

"NO!"

The shrill cream rang out from nowhere, interrupting the tension of the confrontation. Out of an (apparently) abandoned building, Miyahon reared his head and began flailing his arms around wildly. "You will NOT take another one on my watch! Take this!" He suddenly whipped out a bomb and lit it, throwing it with tremendous force towards Dante.

And the bomb flew.

Right above Dante's head.

Overshot by roughly 30 feet.

Landing on the drab fountain.

Which was full of water.

"Nice arm." Niko commented.

"Poor aim, though." Mako added.

Suddenly, the fountain blew up to smithereens, thanks to the resilient bomb. Debris, dust and water combined to make a thick, dangerous fog that painted everything in its vicinity a thick shade of gray. There was coughing everywhere, women screaming, men yelling, and general chaos everywhere one could see. Amidst the shades of gray, though, a small, bright golden glow pierced through the fog.

"What is that?" Gonzo said, being the first to notice it.

Eventually, the whole of the pirate crew was looking towards what was once the site of a nice-looking, oddly-placed, seemingly worthless fountain. Link braved forward before everyone else, his curiosity overcoming any sense of incoming danger that the golden whatever-it-is could bring. As he began wiping it off, the golden glow became more and more apparent, until its grand color could be seen from a distance. It was a golden stone slab, similar in shape to a tombstone, adorned with the crest of the Royal Family of Hyrule (A bird with its wings around the Triforce), and bearing an inscription:

_We_

_DIN, NAYRU and FARORE_

_Golden Goddesses who created and watch over the Land of Hyrule_

_in full knowledge that the curse brought upon Hyrule_

_by the Evil King Ganondorf and Ourselves to be final and irreversible_

_that even revival by power of the Triforce, stoic in its wish-granting, would not heal it_

_have chosen this vast expansion of earth and set it aside to become_

_NEW HYRULE_

_to be ruled only by a worthy heir to the Throne of Hyrule,_

_to be ruled only under the blessing of us, the three Golden Goddesses,_

_to be ruled fairly and just, under peace, for prosperity of the kingdom,_

_and may no deterrent prosper in their attempts to destroy Hyrule's future._

_May the ancient guide of the Light Force be of help to you, Princess._

Tetra read and re-read the inscription carefully, making sure she understood fully what it meant. The shock would simply not leave her face. Her mind wandered briefly to that morning, where she was drowning in her doubts so much she seriously considered leaving the whole thing behind. Now, here was complete, tangible proof that she was not being tricked, and that everything she's been working for so far has not been a waste. Her shock slowly turned into a smile as a nearly inaudible laugh escaped her.

"This is it." Tetra whispered. "This is it!" She repeated, louder. "This is it! This is it! This..."

"This is undoubtedly proof that this is the new Hyrule, Miss Tetra." Mako said. "This proves we've been on the right path so far."

"HA!" Tetra shouted suddenly, pointing dramatically at Dante. "In your face! You probably even tried to hide this with that stupid fountain of yours, but look! Even with a point-blank explosion, this slab remains unscathed. Not a single piece broke. No dust endured on it. What does that tell you? I'll help you here. It tells you your days are counted, 'Emperor' Dante. Don't get comfy in your chair, because this?" She said as she pointed to her underlings. "This demonstration we did today was merely the tip of the iceberg. We're getting ready, and next time we get ashore, you'll have two choices, and two choices only: either submit to us and disappear forever, or be ready for war. The time for diplomacy is past. Can your vain pride hold you to the end? Or will you fall with a great and mighty thud? Ante up." She then stared defiantly at Dante with her best smug glare before motioning her crew to fall back. "And yes, you can have your stupid crate back."

Dante looked, flabbergasted yet seething, at the pirate crew parading towards Waarheid harbor, still letting Tetra's little speech sink in. "Well..." he started muttering to himself, "I think she just sealed her fate within this country." He then went towards the wooden crate and inspected it. "Harrumph... empty. Why am I not surprised?"

* * *

"Heh... full." Tetra commented, after setting sail away from Waarheid, upon seeing the pirates and Link holding seven spoils bags filled to the brim with papers. "Why am I not surprised? Way to step up your game, boys. Now, Mako, I'll ask you to sort those out, and bring me a report when it's ready. Good job today, gentlemen." And with that, she dismissed them.

Before leaving, though, Link walked over to Tetra and called her attention by clearing his throat lightly. Tetra turned over to see what Link wanted, only to be met by a yellowed piece of paper that looked as if it were ripped from somewhere. "Is this... a page from the book?" Tetra asked. Link nodded. "And this was inside Dante's crate?" She asked again, and Link nodded in kind. Tetra took the page from Link and examined it. "The Light Force... innate to the women of the... this explains what was written on the slab back on land. I'll bet anything that Dante knows a lot more than he's letting on."

Tetra turned back to Link, who was smiling at her. She then felt that a smile was creeping up involuntarily on her face, and no matter how much she tried, she could not wipe the silly smile off, so she just turned away to stare to the ocean. "Eh... thankyouLinkyoucangonow." she hastily said. Link took a good glance at Tetra's face, noticing a faint hint of red just under her eyes. He gave a slight playful chuckle at this before waving goodbye and going below deck... followed by the rest of the pirate crew.

* * *

"Yeah, just leave that there, Link." Mako said as he began sorting the huge amount of papers on his 'desk', a small wooden crate on its side so Mako could slip his feet comfortably in. Link set his spoils bag beside him and proceeded to leave... when Gonzo stepped in front of him.

"Hey there, casanova." Gonzo said with a certain teasing tone in his voice. Link did not understood what he meant by it. Nobody in the ship was named casanova, at least as far as he knew. "Yeah, Link, you. Did you think we haven't noticed what's going on between you and Miss Tetra?"

"The words." Nudge said.

"The looks." Senza added.

"The moments." Zuko commented.

"The tension. Oh, dear Din, the tension!" Niko squealed.

"Don't play dumb with us and tell us if there's something between you two." Gonzo said sternly.

"They've been alone..." Zuko said stoically.

"Have they now?" Senza commented. "What have they been doing?"

"Oh, I can't believe this is happening." Nudge said. "And I remember when she was just a little kid."

"The tension. Oh, dear Din, the tension!" Niko squealed.

As the comments were being uttered, Link's mouth opened more and more and his face turned redder and redder. He could not believe what he was being bombarded with. Questioning him about a possible more-than-professional relationship with his captain? Somehow, though, he could not deny the possibility. There was the fact that he was more or less stuck to Tetra until the destiny of New Hyrule was fulfilled, which gave them plenty of time together. Before that, there was the time he risked life and limb to find her, and then to rescue her from her stony prison. Even going back to that first time at the fairy woods, morbid as it may seem now, he could not help but stop and look up and notice how cute that -at the time- unknown unconscious girl looked.

And with every thought that reared into his mind, his face turned even redder, a feat proving more difficult by the second.

"Oh, stop it, the lot of you!" Mako's voice rang out from behind the mountain of papers. He slid out of his box and began walking towards the commotion, his eyes fixated on Link and assessing his general condition. "Look at the poor guy. He's speechless! Would you like to be hounded like that if it was you?"

"Well, I... OW!"

"Sorry, man." Gonzo said, after elbowing a willing Nudge. "It's just... well... She's our captain, but she's like family. We've seen her grow... well, not Niko, he's quite new... from a small child to the young woman she is now. We care about her, her well being, her happiness... you get it, right?"

Link nodded slowly, taking a good, nervous look around his pirate comrades. While they had mellowed out, they still sported smiles and intrigued faces. Niko's in particular had seen little change.

"So..." Senza began. "You had any plans?"

If Link's face had normalized ever so slightly in that short interim, it was all for naught, as it had turned so red you could mistake it for a tomato. Plans? What kinds of plans would Senza be talking about.

"Ever thought of doing something nice?" Niko suggested. "How about taking her out?"

"Flowers, chocolate, dinner..." Zuko added.

"If I may," Mako interjected, "You should take it a bit slower."

"Yeah, maybe start with a nice gift and a card." Nudge suggested. "You know, handmade cards are alw..."

"I meant you guys." Mako scowled at the rest of the crew, then turned to Link. "You haven't even told us anything. Do you think..." Suddenly, Mako's tongue twisted and turned into a knot, making him incapable of properly expressing his thoughts. "... Miss Tetra... I mean to say... Do you find... Fancy a... an' I..."

"I think what Mr. Flustered wants to ask is if you like Tetra?" Niko blurted out.

Link was taken aback by the question. Of course he liked Tetra... that is to say the whole experience of living at sea, under Tetra's leadership. Otherwise, he would've never left Outset Island with them after rescuing his sister and resolving everything he was mixed up on back then. It took him a short while, but he nodded to answer the question.

"But... do you _like_ like her?" Niko drilled further.

"What is this, some childish playground game?" Gonzo said, exasperated. "'Do you _like_ like her?' That has to be the most insipid line of questioning I have ever heard in my life, and I've heard quite a few." He served himself to a small box and sat himself right in front of Link. "Now, Link, there's no need to be ashamed when it comes to matters of the heart. Just take a moment, look inside yourself, and eventually you will know what your feelings are. It may not seem logic or to have much reason, but these things often come *snap* just like that! Now, do you believe there is something there, more deep that a feeling of gratitude or simple friendship or respect, that you may harbor for Miss Tetra? Think, and look deep, since sometimes, these things could be hidden deep, buried under the shame and silly machismo we men seem to covet, but it might just be there. Now if it isn't, we won't pursue this any further, but if it is..."

When Gonzo took a dramatic pause to look directly at Link, he was met with a vacant, lost look on the poor youth's face. Gonzo wasn't sure, But Link probably lost him about halfway through.

"What Mr. Bigword is trying to say is if you _like_ like her?" Niko blurted out, much to Gonzo's chagrin.

Link was no less shocked about this, despite that they were already knee-deep on the subject. Before his face could turn colors other than red, he turned around to face the wall and, seeking shelter in the fact that nobody was looking at him eye-to-eye, shut his eyes for some good old introspective examination. He knew he liked Tetra's company, but _was_ there something more? Beyond the facades, the gratitude, the work ethic, beyond the concepts of destiny and legend, beyond the forces of good and evil, deities, holy objects and anything else that might bind them in any strange way... could there be a seed? A seed that, given the time and opportunity, could blossom into something bigger and grander? A seed, bearing only one name, one face, and seeking only one type of food to grow?

Link turned back around to his still curious shipmates... but he did not say a word, nor did he nod. He merely looked everywhere but the guys' faces while rubbing the back of his neck, his face red with realization and his heart beating so hard he thought everyone was hearing it.

"I think we'll take that as a yes." Gonzo said.

* * *

Tetra was sitting on the top deck, her back to the main mast. It was unusually calm above deck, but somehow, she didn't mind it. It gave her a bit more time to reflect upon that day's actions and her next destination, as well as the page Link had given her. It was odd, in how one page held so much food for thought, and how much it could potentially impact on her quest.

Meanwhile, six sets of eyes crept from the door leading below deck, looking around for any suspicious behavior.

"Now remember what we discussed." Senza whispered to Link. "Gonzo's slowly moving the ship towards land, at which point you just need to approach Miss Tetra and lead her out, got it?"

Link nodded nervously. His mind kept running around about how weird things have turned out, considering how easy it was to stand by Tetra's side all these years, but it was becoming so very hard to even approach her at this very moment. Link gripped the door handle with such force that it was starting to creak and rattle violently.

"And don't worry." Nudge reassured the green nervous wreck. "We'll be behind you."

"One-hundred percent." Zuko added.

Link could see the first patches of land coming from the horizon. If he really wanted to do this, it had to be now. He once held the Triforce of Courage, all he had to do is remind himself how he felt as its power helped him traverse the most dangerous perils. He opened the door to the deck, sporting the best smiling, confident face he could muster, took a step out and basked on the fact that, due to the nature of it being a slightly cloudy day, the rays of the sun that edged from the clouds gave the day a surreal, ethereal tone. He slowly but surely began to strut towards the main mast, until he stood right in front of Tetra.

"Just leave the food on my desk, I'll be down soon." Tetra said absentmindedly. She then looked up and noticed it was Link standing -in a difficult-to-notice odd stance- in front of her. "Oh, Link." She said in a subdued voice, making Link's posture falter. "Did you want something?"

Link was about to hightail it out of there, but he just knew he couldn't, so he reminded himself to brave it out, just like when he held the Triforce of Courage. He looked down to Tetra, who was still sitting, cleared his throat rather loudly, and...

"What happened, man?" Nudge asked a poor, pathetic looking Link, crouched in a corner, who was trying to bury his face inside his cone-shaped cap. "You didn't even do so much as utter a whimper, and walked right back inside. Come on, Link. You have to do this."

Link responded by shaking his head furiously. He thought of the time he had the Triforce of Courage, and remembered it only truly worked when he was in dangerous situations. The Triforce of Courage never prepared him in the case he had to face a female.

"You know you're lucky she didn't follow you." Mako said. "But she's probably noticed we're heading to land, and Gonzo's going to have to answer for that. You agreed to this, so it's now or never."

Link let go of his cap as he tried to control his overacting nerves. If he was really decided to at least try something out, he needed control. He needed to have his thoughts in order. He needed to not fall to pieces and make a total fool out of himself (partial fool was okay, though). He stood up and turned towards the door, gaining confidence every step he took forward. Just was his chest was inflated with confidence and security, he touched the door handle... and it creaked and rattled violently as he deflated spectacularly.

"Gonzo!" Tetra yelled at the direction of the bridge.

"Y... Y... Y... Yes... Miss Tetra?" Gonzo answered nervously, particularly because he could not see Link anywhere on deck.

"Why are we approaching land?" Tetra asked. The question was not answered, however, as the door that led below deck was slammed open, causing a loud crash as it slammed into the wall. On the frame of the door stood Link, breathing heavily, his eyes bloodshot with a desperate look on his face, and his feet trembling at the mere idea of moving. "Eh... Link?" Tetra managed to say before Link started screaming and running at her. Before she could fully realize what was happening, Link made the briefest of eye contacts, communicating in that passing look that there was more to his actions than that raving attitude gave in, then immediately grabbed Tetra's hand tightly and continued running straight out to shore. "What is going !!!?" Tetra screamed as she was dragged off her ship.

"Eh..." Senza stood for a moment, trying to find the right words for the situation. "Do... you think he may have laid it on a bit too thick there?"

"...Maybe." Mako said.

"We stink at being cupid wannabes." Niko stated.

"No doubt." Nudge concurred.

* * *

Despite the initial bad start, Link knew almost exactly what he wanted to do: Spend some time without worrying about anything regarding their quest, the book or its pages, the New Hyrule, the ship, the sea... nothing stress-inducing. It was just gonna be him and Tetra, together. That's all that mattered for now, and he wanted to make sure of it.

They walked for a short while, going through a patch of trees, without saying a word. Link was just too nervous to even give more than a passing glance at Tetra, while Tetra was still confused, though she had an inkling by the way Link simply refused to let go of her hand. Finally, they had reached a familiar location: the clearing they first crossed to get to Waarheid a few weeks ago. It was as idyllic and beautiful as it was before: Trees were scattered about, bearing a variety of fruit; flower beds of different colors, some extending ridiculously far away; ponds glimmering, enclosed by circles of trees and bushes and housing some fishes, frogs and birds, among others... even the grass stood out with its healthy green hue and its soft touch. And to top it all off, everything was illuminated wonderfully by the rays of the sun filtered through the clouds, giving everything a golden, vivid tone.

Link took a moment to let all this sink in, letting it all work on him, making all his nerves vanish and turning his nerve-wracking face into a solid smile. Finally, he let go of Tetra's hand, if only to step a few paces ahead.

"Uh... This is nice and all..." Tetra began, while rubbing her newly-freed hand to regain some of its feeling and watching Link squatted by a flower bed. "But I still don't know why we're here. Why don't we go..."

Suddenly, Link stood up and motioned Tetra to keep quiet by holding his index finger up. On his other hand, he held a daisy flower. Slowly -almost timidly so- he raised his hand and presented the flower to her. Tetra could not help but smile as her eyes were transfixed on the bright white flower, and mouthed something that might as well have been an expression of thanks. When she raised her hand to grab the flower, though, Link pulled it back and pulled up his free hand, to let her know to wait. Link took one step towards Tetra and raised his hands towards the left side of her head. Taking a step back, he marveled at how a single flower etched to Tetra's hair brightened her face. To help her see (As Tetra kept trying to see with her own eyes), Link led her to a nearby pond so she could look at her reflection. The look on her face was absolutely priceless: the sheer childlike mesmerized smile was a total contrast to her usual rough-n-tough attitude, but her mind was just reminding her of how few times she's ever gotten a flower, and having one on her hair was unheard of. It was just a simple daisy, but to her, it was more that that.

Taking the opportunity of being so close to the local fauna, Link pulled out his bait bag and sprinkled some all-purpose bait on the water. Almost immediately, a couple of frogs emerged and swallowed the bait like nobody's business. He then passed the bag to Tetra so she could have a try at it. While not particularly interested, She took the bag and threw some bait at the water. Then, a swarm of small fishes hounded the red food in a comically cute fashion, thrashing about and jumping off the water, even causing some of the splash to catch Tetra's face, ensuing light laughter from both of them. Then, Tetra had a wild idea. Hearing the chirping of many birds around them, she looked around the nearby trees as she stood back up with a few fistful of bait on her hand. Then, with all the strength she could manage, she threw the bait up into the air. The birds must have had finely honed hearing, or they were just really attentive to what "those people" were doing, since as soon as the bait was released, birds of all kinds, from the big to the tiny, shot out from their perches to grab a piece of food from midair. The spectacle of feathers and colors -from brown to red to yellow to white to blue to gray- dancing right on top of Link and Tetra was awe-inspiring, however short it lasted.

At this point, it was safe to notice how into this Tetra was getting. Her face was a mixture of her usual devious smile and a purer, more innocent look. Though some part of her brain was constantly telling her just how inane, insipid, ridiculous and worthless all this was, another part, which grew louder and louder, simply told her to relish every single moment for all they were worth. Listening to that other voice, Tetra sped out of the pond area laughing, and turning around to tease Link by sticking her tongue at him. For the briefest of moments, Link thought Tetra was running away to the ship, but when he turned around, his worries were quelled, and he even cranked a smile as he sprinted to give her chase. When she saw this, Tetra gave a small shriek and began running away, towards the more open parts of the meadow. She ran admirably, but Link proved that all that time adventuring was not for naught, as he was gaining on her little by little. When it looked like Link was about to catch up to Tetra, though, the pirate leader just stopped and stepped to the side... while sticking a leg out. Link fell down very clumsily straight to the (thankfully) soft grass.

No sooner had Link rolled around did Tetra grabbed a hold of his right leg. Sporting a devilish look on her face, Tetra began trying to take off Link's boot, to which he started screaming in terror and shaking his head wildly, while trying to fend her off with his hands that barely reached her hair. Eventually, Tetra pulled on Link's boot's straps and successfully pulled the tough footwear off, after which she started working on his left boot. Link tried, but trying to stop such determination was an exercise in futility. Eventually, Tetra was hanging both of Link's boots over her head as a sign of victory. Link stood up, mildly annoyed by the situation, but he somehow did not care much. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he was having way too much fun to care. Or maybe it was because the grass brought up perfect comfort on his toes. When Tetra noticed that Link was not trying to chase her for the boots, her smile faded and she looked over to Link to see what was holding him back. When she approached him, Link was just looking down to her feet, seeing himself wiggle his toes through the grass underneath. Link then raised his gaze at Tetra, who looked slightly confused, and smiled.

Before long, Tetra's sandals laid alongside Link's boots beside a large rock formation, seemingly abandoned.

After climbing up a tree, Link grabbed a pair of oranges and offered one to Tetra, who gladly accepted it. They sat together on the highest branch that could sustain them, which just so happened to sport a small view to the so-called 'Abandoned Castle'. It was quite tall, by the looks of it... about three floors, if one would hazard a guess, and very comparable (for what they could see) to the Old Hyrule Castle and the castle drawings that were in the hyrulian book. The faded blue tiles on the roof looked worn from time, something that, if they could notice it from afar, definitely needed some immediate fixing if that were really to become New Hyrule's castle.

Tetra jumped down from the tree effortlessly, and deciding to take the lead again, whistled at Link to come down and follow her. After a quick trip through the meadow, they ended up at the same rock formation where their footwear lay. Tetra examined the edges where the earth met the rock carefully, until she suddenly sank lower than usual. She motioned Link to come along, and suddenly, that small dip turned into a massive tunnel. It was one of the 'rat holes' that her crew had discovered on their first visit to Waarheid. Link was well aware of where they ended up in, and gave Tetra a not-so-amused look.

"Oh, all right." Tetra confessed. "So maybe I wanna see how's the city after we left. So what? I know what you're trying to do, but I promise we won't stay long. Besides, I think I saw a place we can go to. So come on. It'll be fun."

By 'fun', Link knew that Tetra usually meant 'fun at the expense of someone else'. He knows, since he's lived it before, from being launched inside a barrel to open sea just for laughs, to having his green tunic dyed shocking pink and yellow and being forced to wear it all day. He was just thankful this time 'someone else' did not mean him, so he decided to come along and see what could happen.

After asserting that no one was actively searching for them, Link and Tetra climbed out of a loose floor tile. Strangely, it looked like nothing had changed... well, outside from a blocked-off place covered with a large wooden crate -Dante's, it seemed- where the fountain used to be. Tetra called Link over and she grabbed his hand to lead him to where she wanted to go. After running through a few side-streets and crossing the park, they ended up in front of Coco's Cocoa, a restaurant where, as the slogan said, there was a hint of chocolate and love in every meal. Tetra made to enter, but Link stopped her as he pointed to a sign in front of the shop: 'No shoes, no shirt, no service.' They both looked at each other, then took a gaze down: they were still barefooted. They thought about such a predicament for a few moments, before deciding to go in anyways.

The scent of chocolate assaulted their senses immediately after entering the restaurant, making their taste buds crave for a piece of some chocolate-infused food. They sat on a slightly out of the way table for two and ordered two cups of hot cocoa, a couple of chocolate chip cookies, two plates of breaded pork chops dipped in chocolate sauce, and a brownie (to split). Link looked greatly amused as Tetra struggled with the hot drink. Apparently, she hasn't had the opportunity to drink a lot of hot drinks in the life, considering how she gnawed on the cookie ferociously in a vain attempt to find something to cool down her tongue. When Tetra found out that Link was staring at her with a silly smile plastered on his face, she became flustered and frustrated, and decided on a whim to down the rest of the hot cocoa in one go, and then giving Link the best smug face she could give (though her watering eyes told a completely different story).

The pork chops were next. Link immediately knew what the shop's slogan was about: That pork's chocolate coating was not all over it, it merely enhanced and complemented its natural flavors and the other seasonings. The cooking was second-to-none as well, as the piece he had was juicy and tender, and any bones it may have had were meticulously removed. In short, it was... it was... it was...

Link's eyes widened. For some reason, he just couldn't eat another bite. The lone piece of half-eaten pork reminded him of another situation he had years ago with his once-neighbors on his childhood island. Suddenly, 'it was delicious' took a whole new meaning before Link's eyes.

The pair decided to save the brownie for later, and left the place after paying (they wanted to skedaddle before the waitress noticed they didn't leave a tip). Halfway through the trip out, however, they came across the back of the burly visage of Emperor Dante himself, most likely doing a follow-up on their earlier incident. Both Tetra and Link quickly reacted by jumping into the nearest back alley and squeezing up together as much as possible to avoid being detected. In the back alley, they could _just_ see Dante talking with a few high-ranking officers, as well as some carriages, some loaded with construction stuff, others with military equipment. While they could not hear what Dante was talking about, Tetra was not really interested in it. "If only I had something to mess with him..." she lamented.

Suddenly, Link snapped his fingers, signaling an idea. It took some, considering how close they had to be, but eventually Link pulled out around three bombchus. He presented the idea to Tetra with a smile, and she responded in kind_. _Thus, Link wound up the first bombchu and gave it directions before setting it down. The bombchu started climbing the wall next to Link and Tetra and disappeared from view as it ran through the roof. When it came back to view, the pair cold see it approaching one of the carriages from a completely unrelated location to where they were hiding, ensuring nobody could react in time to stop it. The explosion and the debris flying were spectacular. In the midst of the confusion, Link gave Tetra a bombchu while he wound up his second one. The explosive mice climbed up opposite walls and disappeared, only to come out from very odd locations, having one of them approach Dante rather dangerously, and finally explode two more carriages. Dante's reaction was priceless, with copious amounts of swearing and incoherent yelling, making the soldiers nearby run around aimlessly. Tetra had to clasp her mouth with her hands to avoid guffawing loudly at the ridiculous manner in which Dante reacted to the explosions.

Using an equal mix of stealth, abusing the environment to their advantage and sheer luck, Link and Tetra managed to re-enter the 'rat hole' and return to the meadow they were originally. The day was coming to a close, as the sun's influence was becoming less and less, and the first star had already climbed into the sky.

"Hey." Tetra said to Link, standing side-by-side to him and looking at him sideways with a sincere, innocent-looking smile. She spoke in a soft tone so unlike her usual self. "There's somewhere I wanna go before we wrap up today. You know... If you'd like to."

There was no need telling Link twice. If there was something missing from today, it was a good finishing touch. He nodded with a smile on his face the whole way through, and then they walked side by side out of the meadow, through the patch of trees, and towards the beach.

If there was a piece of land that Tetra truly loved, it was the beach. The soft, shifting sand under her bare feet; the gentle, everlasting breeze blowing though her hair and fluttering her vest; the harmony of the cries of the seagulls and the crashing waves bringing beautiful music to her eyes... The beach was always a great source of joy for her.

"You know," Tetra started, while staring straight at the ocean, "I had a childhood fantasy once. I always dreamed of having a house by the sea, where I could always come down to the beach anytime I wanted. There I would raise my family and live happy for the rest of my life, because that's all I really wanted."

Link stood right beside her, capturing every word said by his captain with rapt attention. He felt this was a good time to lend an ear and help out as well as he could.

"This day started lousy for me, you know." Tetra said, finally facing Link. "I may look like a strong individual, full of confidence and stuff, but sometimes the doubts hound me with no real end in sight. Sometimes I look back at something I just did and wonder, 'did I do things right?' Yeah, I have my pirate upbringing and my intuition to help me, but sometimes, I just can't help but wonder."

Link nodded in understanding. He motioned Tetra to sit down in a nearby log, to which she promptly accepted.

"And then... well, you showed up." Tetra continued, rather matter-of-factly. "It's almost as if every time something's going on, you show up. Really. But you... you brightened my day. You gave me a reason to not slump on my chair one more day while I wonder what should we do next. You may not know it," Tetra said while looking straight at Link's face, "but you may have saved me more times than you think you have."

Link smiled and tried to handwave all that gratefulness, but from the looks of Tetra's slightly blushing face, This was a tough thing to simply brush aside. Eventually, an awkward silence settled in. The pair resorted to staring into the ocean and see as the stars came out of hiding one by one as the night grew darker.

"It's getting kinda cold, don't you think?" Tetra said as she felt herself shivering. She was rather ill-equipped for the cold breeze blowing about. "How about we start a fire? I'll gather some stones, and you get us some firewood." And they separated, gathering the items needed as quickly as their hands and the cold allowed them to go. When the stone ring was ready, Link set the firewood inside and started rubbing two pieces together. "Wait, you don't have your bow?You could just shoot a fire arrow inside and..." Link quickly shook his head to stop Tetra's line of thought. The only thing he brought, outside of bombchus, was the magical glove, which he was wearing on his right hand to at least protect one arm. "And you brought that glove? Well... I do hold on to mine, just in case..." Tetra confessed as she pulled out her blue glove out of a vest pocket, she decided to put in on her left hand to at least mirror Link's initiative. Seeing Link struggle with the wood was starting to get on Tetra's nerves, something she did not care to hide. "You know what, give me the wood here. I'll show you how to..."

At that moment, Tetra's left hand touched Link's right hand... and sparks flew. Lots of sparks. Magical sparks, at that. These sparks found their way to the firewood, making the fire erupt into a seven-foot tower. "Whoa." Tetra managed to sat after the initial shock of the towering flames died out. "Did... did the gloves do that?" She pointed at her blue glove for example, to which Link could only give a small shrug. He simply knew about as much as her... that is to say, nothing. For safety, though, he took off his glove and returned it to his bag.

"This might as well be one of the best moments of my life, you know." Tetra said while throwing her head back to stare directly at the stars. "Just... forgetting about everything, if only for one moment, and enjoy life. It's all been work, maintaining a ship and stuff... I can't really remember the last time I got away from it all like this." Her eyes then shifted into a thoughtful reflection as she cranked her head back forward. "Actually... I think I do. I was ten, I think, and my mother told me to gussy up for a mother-an'-daughter time on the town. I was really happy... mind you, I spent plenty of time with my mom, but most of it was learning about the ways of the sea and acting as co-captain, that kind of girlish bonding is all." She said that last bit with a sly smile creeping from the side of her mouth. "But on that day, it was not 'Tetra's mother, the pirate captain' sitting in front of me. It was simply 'mom'. She listened to my every word, and I listened to what she had to say. She made sure that day was my day, that I ended up back on the ship with the largest smile my tender face could draw. And then, when it was time to sleep, I wouldn't shut up about all the things we did. Instead of being annoyed, my mom just looked over at me with her happiest smile in a long time. She tucked me in, and before she bid me good night, she gave me the golden necklace, the golden 'A', I called it. Then, she whispered to me _"I love you, Tee"_ and kissed me in the forehead. I said _"love ya, mom"_ as she stood up and began walking away."

Link listened very carefully at the story, not being able to sustain his glee upon hearing such a sweet story. It was great to listen at Tetra reminiscing about happy times instead of the more troubling ones.

Then, a tear escaped Tetra's eye, and Link's glee immediately disappeared from existence.

"That was the last time I ever talked with her. She was found dead on her bed the next morning. Poisoned. Apparently, she had been given a slow-acting poison that was killing her for days."

...

"She was dying in my eyes, and all I did was smile and laugh!" Tetra's face contorted as she forced herself to maintain her composure and deny any more tears to run free. "We gave her a viking funeral, just like she wished for. I didn't cry then... I couldn't afford to, anyway. I was the new captain, after all. I had to be tough, I had to be strong, I had to prove my worth to every lyin', stinkin', putrid, back-stabbin' pirate out there, 'cause if I didn't, I was gonna get trampled under their pressure."

Link did not know what to do. There she was, Tetra, basically emptying her repressed memories in a rare vulnerable moment for her, and Link could not come up with one single word to console her. She wasn't looking towards him, instead preferring to gaze at the bright dancing stars, and he felt he should do something to try and soothe her down, but fast.

Then, his hand stumbled upon a paper bag while rummaging through his item bag. He took it out to see what could there be inside, only to find the brownie they got at the restaurant. It was a strangely large piece of brownie, roughly four inches in length, considering it's reasonably low price. He thought about the possibilities for a second, then took out the brownie from the bag and cut it in half. Link cleared his throat to call Tetra's attention, and when she turned around, he offered her the larger piece. Tetra switched between looking at Link's outstretched arm holding the brownie, and Link's face sporting a small smile, and she hung her head, letting out a small chuckle in the process. "It's almost like you know what I need to make me feel better." She said while taking the piece of brownie and biting at it mercilessly, feeling as though every bite held special healing magic to improve her mood.

After eating the 'magical healing brownies', Link and Tetra sat side-by-side on the log by the beach, staring at the infinite night sky holding myriad stars of different sizes and colors and a beautiful crescent moon. They did not speak, but at the moment, they did not need to. Being there, alongside each other, was enough for them. Link felt he was rather successful with this -as the guys on the ship called it- 'date' thing, and that seed he had unearthed from the depths of his heart could have, if not blossomed, at least rattled about to show it was alive. He felt as though he had earned Tetra's complete trust, and he hoped she felt that he was always going to be there for her. As for Tetra... she simply turned her face to face Link and said: "Thank you, Link. For everything."

**To be continued**

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**Oh, yes!**


	9. Sandstorm

REVIEW ANSWERIN' time is brought to you in part by readers like you. Thank you.

lilgreenfox: Aw, don't sell yourself short. I actually thought I might have overdid it with the mushy part. Your comment just reassures me, and I thank you for it.

Ri2: If I made you laugh or be greatly amused by the first part of the chapter, my mission here is done. If I made you "d'aw" in the second part, My mission here is done. Besides, it was high time to kick-start what was (heavily) hinted at through the previous seven chapters, no?

_Legend of Zelda_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 9:

Sandstorm

"This is going to be a baaaaaaaaaad day."

Tetra uttered that undoubtedly negative mantra under clenched teeth and narrowed eyes. It was not unwarranted, though, considering she had already fallen from her bed to land on her nose, prickled her eye with her hair brush, bit her tongue while brushing her teeth, and crushed her fingers when she was closing a drawer. And it's only been 15 minutes since she's woken up.

Mako stood beside the door to Tetra's chambers. He had prepared a preliminary report on all those papers they 'borrowed' from Dante's office. It wasn't complete, but it should give her a good idea of that pattern they follow, and he wanted to give it to her first thing in the morning so she could see how hard he was working (a little -ahem- incentive couldn't hurt, either). Suddenly, he heard a high-pitched scream coming from inside Tetra's room that put the smart pirate on point. Before he could even try asking if anything was alright, though, Tetra burst out of the room, nearly flattening Mako in the process. Mako tried to appeal to her, but she did not even look at him, instead walking in a hasty pace towards the mess hall.

Once on the mess hall, Tetra sat on her usual chair and awaited to be served breakfast, as usual, yet she did not raise her gaze to look at anybody that could be in the general vicinity. As she was ferociously eating her oatmeal, though, she put her face too close to the plate, which made her accidentally snort some of the food up her nose. Her face turned colors and her eyes watered as she struggled to even try and take the food off the wrong orifice. Once things calmed down, Tetra stared at her oatmeal, not with hunger, but with increasing rage, until she couldn't take it anymore and threw the whole plate to the wall with a frustrated scream. Even angrier than when she entered, she left the mess hall without turning her gaze to anybody there.

When it looked like the coast was clear, Senza, Nudge and Zuko poked their heads out of the kitchen counter carefully. "What is wrong with her today?" Senza asked, unable to comprehend the sudden outburst

"Do you think..." Nudge said. "it has something to do with yesterday?"

"No..." Zuko stated plainly. "This is different... worse..."

"Care to figure out what's troubling her, then?" Senza taunted Zuko.

"I'm not suicidal..." Zuko snapped back with a none-too-amused stare at his offender.

"Well, whatever it is," Nudge said, "let's hope nobody falls prey to it."

* * *

"Now, the best way to double-check if you did a good knot is by putting your weight into it." Gonzo explained to a curious Link, who was watching intently at the Second-in-command's tips for good sea travel. "Now, since I'm heavier than you, I could tell better if a knot will hold, but I think you'll do just fine. You can always apply a little extra pressure if you're not..."

Link wondered why Gonzo would stop in mid-lesson, and why did his eyes widened, looking right over him. When Link decided to turn around, he found Tetra standing right behind him. He smiled and waved to greet her, but as soon as he smiled, his face dropped. Narrowed slit-like eyes, curled up mouth, pressurized fists, and what seemed to be a low snarl... Link hasn't ever seen Tetra act like this. His eyes, widened with terror, would not dare blink or wade away from the captain's utterly scary figure.

"Eh... Miss Tetra?" Gonzo dared to ask. "Is there anything you need?"

For one fleeting second, Link thought it was safe and turned over to Gonzo, but before he could do anything else, he felt his collar being pulled with such strength that it choked him briefly. Without uttering a word, Tetra was dragging Link below deck, going so far as to throw him down the bridge and letting his head bump hard (twice) into the door.

"What happened between them yesterday?" Niko asked as he climbed down the stairs from the crow's nest.

"I don't know..." Gonzo wondered, still shaken by having Such a scary side of Tetra so close to him. "But I think we're gonna need some bandages when she's through with him."

* * *

Link did not know when did his nose first started bleeding: when the door slammed on his face on the way in, or when he was thrown head-first into the cargo hold. Either way, he was feeling quite woozy and disoriented as to his immediate surroundings. Then, something came into his mind: the image of a totally beyond scary Tetra, somehow enhanced greatly by Link's sudden burst of imagination, giving him more than enough reason to work through the pain and find the way out. He tried feeling for the ladder that led out, but no matter how much he tried, he could not find it.

"You're not going anywhere." A lower-than-usual, yet still rather feminine voice rang from behind a couple of crates and barrels. Link jumped in surprise at hearing the voice, cranked his head ever so slowly around to try and see where was the voice coming from. As he turned around fully, the frame of a more composed, yet still visibly fuming Tetra came into view. "At least, not yet." She said in an almost inaudible voice. Slowly, she raised her fists until they were in front of her face. "Put up your dukes."

Link was taken aback by all this. Why would Tetra want to fight him? He hasn't done anything wrong... at least, not as far as he's known. He saw Tetra's dead-serious determined look, yet he couldn't bring himself to raise a hand against her.

"Hurry! I'll start anyway!" Tetra warned the young hero. Link stared at her, as though he could wring out any info as to her motivations with his eyes alone. He tried to dissuade her by raising his hands, not in fists, but as if trying to tell her to stop and wait and shaking his head furiously. Tetra did not even consider this, and edged closer to him. "Well... here I go, ready or NOT!"

And with that loud, livid statement, Tetra threw the first jab straight at Link's face... that is, if Link didn't have such good reflexes and missed her punch by mere centimeters. As quickly as he could, Link ran backwards, trying to avoid Tetra's barrage of jabs and hooks.

"Come! Here! And! Fight! Like! A! Man! Coward!" Tetra taunted in a most venomous manner, throwing punches at every word, trying to get Link to respond and fight him. The boy did not want to fight her, and instead spent his time trying to find some cover and checking and double-checking every one of his pockets for at least one thing that could slow her down enough and calm her. Sadly, due to the fact that it was still rather early, he had nothing equipped.

"There you are!" Tetra said as he discovered Link behind a wall of crates. Before Link could move away from her range, Tetra managed to smack an uppercut on his jaw and a jab on his right arm. Link staggered, but didn't stop his escape from imminent danger. "Some hero you are, running like a cuccoo!" Tetra taunted further. "If you don't want to fight, at least let me punch you once or twice or fifty times."

That was the last think Link wanted to do, letting Tetra wail on him for no reason. Those punches hurt, hard. But the alternative, to fight back, was not desirable at all. There had to be a third option, something to stop her cold without either of them getting hurt. Instinctively, he started climbing a pile of barrels to try and gain some altitude over Tetra. The young captain, however, did not relent, and was quickly beginning to climb the barrels as well. Out of desperation, Link kicked an upright barrel, making it wobble wildly until it finally tipped over and started rolling... straight at Tetra's general direction. Tetra had no chance. She let go of the barrels, but the rolling one was too fast and too close to avoid. The barrel hit her first right under her knees, making her fall on her back, and then proceeded to flatten her against the floor. Thankfully for Tetra, the barrel was only half-full with gunpowder.

After all was over, Link jumped down from the stack of barrels and slowly made her way towards a seemingly motionless Tetra. Worried for her health, he began lowering a hand to her throat area. Suddenly, as if full of life again, Tetra popped into a sitting position, and promptly pushed Link back a few feet from her. "FINE!" she yelled, extremely frustrated at that. "Be that way! Stupid day, stupid oatmeal, stupid brush, stupid Link, stupid desert..."

As Tetra muttered on, Link started to approach her with apprehensive curiosity. Careful as he needed to be, this was the moment to understand why was Tetra acting this way today. "Do you know..." Tetra said when Link was close enough (though not bothering to lower her voice), "where we're going today?"

So it looked like the Goddesses' Compass had shown Tetra another location of the missing pages, Link deduced. This could be a potentially good day for adventuring, were it not for the captain's foul mood.

"It's a desert. It's just beyond the dark forest we went earlier. I saw it then." Tetra answered in a whiny tone. "I hate deserts. They're dry and hot and there's no shade and the sand gets in your eyes..." She continued mumbling under her breath, making it impossible for Link to understand her words. Still, he couldn't help but find it ridiculous that Tetra felt so strongly against deserts. Thinking about how much she's traveled and how many places she's been to, it seemed so unreasonable to dislike a simple desert. After all, it was just like a beach... except without the sea... or the palm trees... or the soothing breeze... or nearby vegetation... or anything that resembles a real beach anyways. Despite that, he found no logic in Tetra's hatred -or fear- to deserts, a fact he did not hide from his face.

"You don't understand." Tetra explained, still in her pouty mood swing. "Today's one of _those_ days. I can smell it. Everything I do goes wrong one way or another. Look, even my shirt's on backwards." She then turned around and lifted her scarf to show Link that, just as she said, the cut on the shirt's neck was on her back. "At this rate, I'm only good to lay down and don't do anything at all." And with that, she plopped herself back to the floor.

For all the patience he showed, Link seemed to be running short particularly fast today, especially for Tetra. He sat opposite her, thinking what could he do to fix her state of mind. After giving it some thought, he stood up and, merely shrugging, he walked away to the tipped-over barrel to prop himself out of the cargo hold with it. Tetra followed his movements with her eyes without raising her head, and when there was no more noise, she returned to staring at the ceiling and doing nothing else.

After a while of silence, Tetra began hearing rushed footsteps, the sound of clanging metal and some bellowing orders that could only come out of Gonzo's mouth. It was odd to have such a scramble without her permission, and even if it was an incoming attack, she would've heard the alarm gong ring out. She sighed greatly, knowing that she just HAD to check what they were doing without her, so, with absolutely no drive to even stand up, she made her way above deck.

* * *

"Don't forget our supplies, Niko!" Gonzo bellowed out, while he himself carried a bag of stuff to the boat. "And we may need some sheets! Go get those, Mako! Zuko, where's the food?! Link, secure that line like I taught you! Senza and Nudge, go to the cargo hold and bring the weaponry crate!"

The pirates were running everywhere, trying to get everything needed on a timely fashion. It seemed, however, that with the rushing way they were carrying, they didn't even notice Tetra walking among them, trying to get something out of them. Frustrated, she appealed to the first one that ought to answer to her. "Gonzo!" She yelled. "What's all this?"

"Well, Miss Tetra..." Gonzo spoke matter-of-factly, not really bothering to look at his captain while he loaded the supplies to the boat, "It's Link's idea. He thought you were overworked and stuff, and that you just couldn't go on this next search, so we're going on ahead and you'll be able to rest for the day."

"Overworked?" Tetra repeated, as though they were insulting her. "Going on ahead? You... You thought I... You really thought I would let... How do you know where you're going, anyway?"

"Link's got the charts." Gonzo answered. "And he's got that compass, and he's leading us there."

"You know, if you really don't wanna go, you can just stay." Senza commented while carrying a heavy crate with Nudge. "We'll take care of it."

"No, that's not... You guys aren't... It's not like..." Tetra's stammering only got worse, to the point that her frustration reached a fevered pitch. "Oooooooooh! FINE! I'm going!" And with a frustrated grunt, she stomped over to her chambers to get ready.

And from the corner of Link's mouth, a small sly smile curled up.

* * *

For the whole of the trip, Tetra remained silent, refused vehemently to carry much more than her own equipment, lagged behind the rest of the group, and sighed in a way that annoyed even Niko. In lieu of this uncooperative air, Link assumed the lead and, Goddesses' Compass in hand, pointed the crew towards their destination. They passed the rather scary forest they had previously explored and proceeded further west. Eventually, the grass under their soles turned to dirt, which in turn transformed to sand. Tetra did her best to remain behind the larger members of the crew, but it mattered little, since she still was the first to get a full blast of sand straight on her face. After dusting her face off, she returned to the small convoy, in search for the next adventure. It did not take long for a long, low cave to appear and expand into a great wall. The cave's entrance was carved roughly, giving indication that some sort of civilization (not too advanced, apparently) once lived there.

"What's that?" Mako pointed out a sign that was a ways off from the way to the cave.

"Don't get us sidetracked, Mako." Gonzo ordered. Mako belayed that, his curiosity piqued by the aged sign. The sign was worn out by time and the attacks of the sand, making the fact that it was still standing a miracle in itself.

"Hmm... interesting..." Mako mused over the sign's faded letters, some nearly unintelligible.

"What's it say?" Niko asked, his curiosity growing.

"Well, it says 'Garo Caverns, home of the sand dwellers. Travelers, beware, for there are monsters around that are beyond our comprehension. If you value your life, you will turn back now.' The usual stuff, really."

The pirates looked at each other nervously. They've been aware that this quest could get dangerous, but to be warned beforehand like that really made them think twice. "Well..." Niko began, swallowing hard before saying something he could not believe was coming out of his lips. "We're here, anyway. So I say we..."

"Well, we tried. Let's go back." Tetra quickly interrupted her buck-toothed subordinate and made to run in the direction they came in... that is, until she felt a tight tug at her neck collar. Link was simply refusing to let her go. Not this time. "Ok, ok, I get it. I'm not leaving." She shrieked while trying to swat Link's hand off her shirt. "I shouldn't have shown you where the neck collar was..."

Thus, the group, knowing the degree of danger they were about to face, and though apprehension had already settled in, decided to move on, and together they entered:

**The Garo Caverns**

The first thing the group noticed as they entered the cave was that the first room looked like a foreign-style dwelling. Most of the floor, walls and ceiling were covered in wood, and were colored in a mixture of rustic brown and sandy yellow. From the walls hung some scrolls with writing that none of them could decipher. There was a low table off on the side where one had to sit on the floor to use it. And on top of that table there was a tea set, as though it were ready to greet guests.

"Wow." Mako whispered in amazement at every detail he could find. "Some people actually managed making a livable place out of these caverns. Just wondrous. Just... look at the magnificent detail in the wood finish! Why, the way the artificial walls blend with the stone so seamlessly... it might as well be invisible to the untrained eye. And then there's..."

"All right, we get it, 'Professor'. Sheesh." Senza interrupted when he reached his tolerance ceiling.

"Well, sorry for actually appreciating somebody's way of living." Mako retorted.

"We're not here to appreciate, we're here to plunder."Senza explained. "And I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on taking my sweet time in the dunes of dehidration. Now if you'll excuse me..."

"Hello, visitors."

"And what is it with y-- yeeh-- yeeh-- yeeh-- YEARGH!"

Suddenly, all eyes were on the source of Senza's screaming. A man seemingly appearing out of nowhere, completely covered in brown robes, including his face, of which only an eerie green glint of his eyes could be seen, and on top of it, an eerie translucent aura all over him. He sat on the low table, his back to the wall, and began sipping on a teacup.

"Is he... a ghost?" Niko whispered to Link, who was also quite shocked at the surprise encounter. The rest of the crew just maintained a watchful silence as the shrouded man continued enjoying his drink.

"I am of the Garo." The man began. "We were an old clan versed on the ways of the sword. We have traveled far and wide, through land, sea, and even dimensions, and eventually settled upon this rough desert. We lived life in relative peace... until a great, endless night befell upon us. This endless night made all monsters who abhorred the sun and it's intense heat to run around, waiting for an opportunity to strike at us. Though we fought valiantly, the monsters walked in packs, and we were easily overpowered. The sun did not come back until the last of us was exterminated. Truly, the powers that be did not see us as essential."

"So... you ARE a ghost?" Niko asked, this time with a bit more bravery.

"But why are you telling us this?" Tetra wondered. After all, it was mostly irrelevant to their quest.

"I merely wish to warn you." The Garo ghost explained, as he picked his teacup once again. "Though the sun still shines, monsters still prowl around these caverns. They will not hesitate to kill you. Above that, there are traps set by my kind, traps that only my kind knows how to surpass, and we're honor-bound to not speak of them, so don't ask." He said, getting ahead of Nudge's raising hand, who meekly let it limp down. "My advice is that there is no treasure worth dying for inside these caverns, so turn back now, for your own sakes."

"That would be nice-- Leggo of me , Link" Tetra shouted at Link, who made to grab her neck collar again, and addressed the Garo ghost directly. "That would be nice, leaving this place and never coming back. Believe me, I'm not exactly here by sheer joy. But I'm afraid there IS something in there that is worth risking a limb. I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to go on."

"Do you mean..." The Garo ghost raised his gaze from the cup and looked directly at Tetra. "Are you... Do you, by chance, know of the old pages? Pages that speak lore of an ancient and forgotten kingdom."

"We seek them, yes." Tetra answered. "Why?"

"Those pages, much mystic power they hold. I was there when they were entrusted to us by a kind old lady. She told us to keep it safe from harm until the time came that someone would claim them." The whole room stood silent as the Garo stood up and walked around the table to reach the young pirate captain. "Do understand that mere days after these pages were entrusted to us were we cursed with the eternal night. I believe the pages cursed. Do you still wish to seek them?"

This was it, Tetra thought. If she wanted to run and forget about this place, she had the road clear. Even Link wouldn't be capable of reaching her in time. She could be called superstitious, but she's been having a bad day, and proceeding into the caverns would only make it worse. However, she did not move. Above the dangers or the superstition, she knew she had a duty to fulfill, and she just couldn't walk away from it. She felt also that this could be the only time these pages could be available to her.

Her answer came as clear as the bright sun. "Yes."

The Garo's beady green eyes, which were still the only thing they could identify from his face despite the proximity, bore through Tetra's determined face, who only met his back as if she was given a fierce challenge she could not refuse.

"Very well." The Garo said, walking over to the rock formation Mako was swooning over before. He touched a few key places, and the rock began to rumble and move out of the way, until a passageway was uncovered. "You may pass. The pages were hidden deep inside, in our main training room. If you can find them, you could as well become an honorary Garo."

"Wait! I have just one question." Niko interrupted, with a steely determined look making sure everyone stopped and took notice. Niko walked over to the low table, grabbed the teapot and inspected it thoroughly. "I think you're playing us for fools. How come you were sipping on the cup... when this has nothing on it?"

Everybody stared at Niko, pondering his ridiculous accusations with little more than a 'is he serious?' tendency. Before long, an airborne nut knocked some sense into him, partially blinding him as well.

"We'll just take him. He gets like that sometimes, but he's good comedy relief." Nudge commented as he hoisted the wandering Niko up to his shoulder.

And with a courteous bow by the Garo ghost, the crew entered further into the caverns. After going down a few steps, they reached a rather tall and curvaceous room, a total contrast to the small and boxy room before. Considering the warnings given, this room looked rather harmless, unless you were offended with copious amounts of sand and a ridiculously large barrel.

"So much for big, nasty tests." Tetra said as she walked on to inspect the area beyond.

"Eh... not to be a stick in the mud or anything..." Mako spoke sheepishly as Tetra kept walking forward. "But I don't think he said 'test'. It was more like..."

"WHOAUGH!"

The shock going through Mako's body was too much to continue. The blood curdling scream stopped everyone in their tracks as they tried to find its source. Their color, however, kept draining as the realization dawned upon them... Tetra was nowhere to be seen. Link began walking to where she was last seen, being careful at every step, and looking for clues to her disappearance. After a while, he saw something odd coming out of the sand... fingers? He kneeled right in front of them and slowly reached to touch them.

"You tickle me, you die." Tetra's annoyed, labored voice came out through the sand, startling Link and making him fall back. He then tried reaching for the sand around the fingers... but his hand just went right through it like air after a certain point. Intrigued, he went right ahead and plunged his head where his hand went through the sand. As he suspected, the sand was an illusion after a point, and underneath the illusion was a deep area full of spikes, both stationary and moving. A little to his right was Tetra, hanging on to avoid falling into the sharp pitfall.

"If you've stopped looking as dumbstruck as Mako..." Tetra retorted to a curious Link. "I'd like to get back up, if you please." Link acted fast, grabbing Tetra's arm and pulling hard, helping her climb away from certain doom. After the crew apologized profusely about their oversight and hearing about the illusion trap, most likely set by the Garo, they pondered their options.

"We could use rope to make a provisional rope..." Gonzo proposed.

"No. There's no place to tie the rope." Senza said.

"We could try climbing along the walls..." Niko suggested.

"We could... if you can find someplace to grab on." Mako retorted, pointing to the sandy walls.

"How about the barrel?" Nudge pointed out.

"What barrel?" Tetra asked, looking around the area. She saw the barrel sitting right by the entrance to the room. It was large enough to hold every member of the crew... but it also looked old and rickety. It even had some holes and splinters showing its age. "Can that thing hold on against the spikes?"

"It IS our only choice, Miss Tetra." Gonzo said. "It's not like we have much of a choice."

"Hmmph... I don't like this one bit... but we've got no choice." Tetra reasoned. "Bring it over." The entire crew pushed the ridiculously large barrel, careful that it not rolled back right on top of them, and set it close to where Tetra had 'disappeared'. "Ok, everybody into the barrel." She ordered, making sure everybody was lined up properly so the barrel wouldn't move excessively as she herself entered their makeshift vehicle. "Now, on my signal, we start walking. And get ready for an initial shock." Tetra announced and took her position right between Gonzo and Nudge. The crew looked at her and listened carefully, but every time she opened her mouth, Tetra only made to breathe heavily and sigh deeply. One could only guess how disheartened she could be after seeing how bad things looked under the fake sand... and she only got to see part of it. Somehow, though, she found the gusto to shout with all her might. "Move out!"

The pirates didn't take more than three steps before they lost their footing and the barrel started falling through the fake sand, landing unceremoniously in the pit below. Groaning and hazy, but mostly unharmed, the pirates wobbled their way back to their feet and assessed the damages. It seemed like the barrel was sturdier than it looked, as it was quite complete considering the long drop to a pit of spikes. "Status report, Gonzo." Tetra called, with a tinge of alarm to her voice.

"Everybody seems to be alright, Miss Tetra." Gonzo announced.

Tetra let out a sigh of relief in response. "Okay... Let's try this again." She said as she settled in her spot and put a foot forward. "On my mark, we walk." Everybody else readied themselves for the bumpy ride and waited for the signal. "... . GO!"

For being a dangerous curved trek through a bed of spikes that were threatening to barge in through the slightly raised barrel opening, this room wasn't so bad, so long as they remained inside their protective wodden shell and paid attention to the sides to know when to turn. After the second turn, there was a rather joyful murmur going around, some wondering if they were too worried about this place. Then... a thud, loud enough to make everybody stop.

"What was that?" Nudge asked.

"Perhaps a stone fell from the ceiling." Mako reasoned.

"Perhaps..." Tetra wondred, letting the dreadful realization rise upon her again. "Perhaps they're falling spikes." She looked up to where the sound came from, and true enough, there was a miniature spike protruding from the wood. Tetra knew this could only mean more spikes would fall down. Against her better judgment, though, an order was issued. "Men! Double time! Don't stop 'till we reach the end of the room! Move it!"

Now the lot were rolling the barrel like there was no tomorrow. And true to their fears, more spikes started to fall, carving a home on the barrel's shell and sneaking their pointy heads inside, waiting for unlucky feet to graze them. And graze them they did, with many shrieks and yells of pain among the ranks. Still, they did not slow down one bit, instead redoubling their efforts to move even faster and trying to avoid as many falling spikes as possible, even almost missing one crucial sharp left turn. It came to the point that the fatigue and the pain suffered by everyone in the crew was too much to handle when...

[CRASH!]

"We're here?" Senza asked while trying to regain a dignified posture after contorting himself to avoid being skewered by the spikes. "I didn't notice a turn."

"Yes! We're out of the pit!" Niko announced triumphantly.

"Everyone out!" Tetra ordered, which everyone in the party was all-too-happy to obey.

When they inspected the barrel from the outside, it looked like a porcupine defending itself from potential hunters. "These spikes aren't natural." Mako pointed out after inspecting one of them. "They're iron. Man-made. Probably by the Garo."

"Well, we made it, at least." Gonzo said while taking off his boots to see the extent of the spike damage. He had to step on a few spikes to run away from the trap, and it showed: his feet had turned red, and some blood was trickling out. The others were pretty much the same way, so Tetra allowed them to take a small break to tend their wounds before continuing. In the interim, Link decided to try and check on Tetra, who was busy bandaging her feet. He tried to help with the bandaging, when suddenly:

"Drop 'em." Tetra said to Link in a less-than-welcome tone "I can do this on my own. I don't need you." Dejected, Link walked away, leaving the rest to their own mending.

* * *

In comparison to the last room, this next room was rather small and neat. He sand looked compact and none of it was an illusion. One could even see the way out of the room to the left of their entrance. There was nothing explicitly wrong with this room... and that's exactly what the pirates felt was wrong.

"This is too empty." Gonzo commented. "There's not a column, or a table, or... not even a barrel."

"This sand... it's odd..." Zuko whispered, his gaze focusing on and apparently trailing an undetermined element among the sand.

Even Link was looking around, wondering how could such an empty room exist. He walked around the walls, seeing and feeling if there was anything odd about them, some strange formation, a carving, a hole... nothing. It was just a plain old sandy room.

"Well, if it's all the same, I want to finish this quickly." Tetra reiterated her wishes as she made her way to the passageway leading to the next room. "So why don't we just move along and..." Suddenly a rock slammed down on the passageway, right in front of Tetra, blocking her way through. Despite the initial surprise, she snapped back, deadpan: "Why did I not see that happening."

Then, out of the sand, a green cone-shaped creature with several razor-sharp teeth adorning a top-mounted mouth emerged. It turned on its own axis as it glided aimlessly around the free sand. "Leever..." Zuko named the creature, and (quite unlike an owner who just named his pet) promptly cut the unsightly beast in half. The leever gave a odd growl before expiring, which was quickly followed by a small earthquake. Eventually, about a dozen leevers emerged at the same time, and noticing their dead comrade, wasted no time in circling their attackers.

"Oh, this just keeps getting better, isn't it?" Tetra said, sarcastically. She then turned her attention fully to Link. "Next time, I'll pick the vacation destination, ok."

"Quick everyone!" Gonzo took to ordering the battle plan. "Diamond formation, two groups! Miss Tetra, It's best if you stay by me." Tetra obliged, knowing the urgency of the battle plan... yet making sure Zuko and Senza were on her group, leaving Link with Niko, Nudge and Mako. They formed their diamond formation (which was simply standing back to back to back to back to avoid blind spots) and concentrated on battling the leevers. These leevers were more battle-oriented than the stray one, roaming in circles, thrusting their razor-sharp teeth at every opportunity and being overall tougher to kill. They also moved in zig-zag patterns, making them hard to even hit.

"Stupid... wormish... things..." Niko wheezed as he struggled to catch one. "Hold still so I can slice you."

"Quit wasting your breath and stab at 'em." Nudge reprimanded, while at the same time showing his blade turned into a leever swish kabob. "Works best for me."

"Is it just me..." Senza wondered as he kept cutting up creatures, "... or do they just keep appearing?"

"There's more." Zuko said, his eyes opened when he raised his gaze to notice how there were at least three times the original amount of leevers surrounding them.

"We'll never get them like this!" Mako whined. And almost as if predicted, the leevers began gaining terrain on the pirates as they swarmed the small room more and more. Eventually, the team had to break formation as they were being pushed into a wall. As bravely as they fought, their space was slowly getting smaller and smaller, soon to be overtaken by the green creatures. "I can't think of anything. What can we do?"

Then, Niko had a sudden weird idea: when you can't think of something yourself, think what would your hero do. He had tried it before, with mixed results: following Gnawbeard's example led the group to a hefty heist once, while trying some antics of Cannonman's (a theater character) made him bedridden for two months and almost cost him his pirate career. This time, however, he had an example he knew he could trust, and he wasn't too far away: Link. He turned to Link, who was busy exterminating raging leevers, and actually being the best one to keep the swarm at bay. Niko saw this as a sign and started to shout: "Look at Link, everybody! Do exactly like Link is doing!"

Before any protests could be uttered, the rest of the pirates took a brief moment to notice Link's expert way of keeping the leevers off. They immediately decided to try and sync up their every move to match Link's exactly, with the same timing. Thus, almost as if they were in a rhythm competition, the pirates copied Link's every sword swing, slash and stab and, just like it worked on the green garbed boy, the leevers were actually retreating from the pirates, to the point that their swords could barely reach the most daring of leevers. "Step forward!" Tetra ordered, prompting everybody to approach the stagnant swarm while keeping to Link's formula. Slowly and steadily, the leevers began decreasing in numbers as the pirates' synchronized slashing made short work of them. Eventually, the room cleared enough so no more than 3 leevers were left. One of the leevers -the bravest, apparently- squeaked oddly as he thrashed around angrily right in front of Tetra.

"Aw, how cute." Tetra said while staring down at the thrashing leever. "It's almost like he's threatening us." And with that, she eliminated the final trio by herself. Immediately after the last one was extinguished, the rock that was blocking the way moved out of the way, letting the pirates enter a long corridor.

* * *

"It's getting sunnier." Niko commented as they walked on through the corridor. "I guess these caverns aren't as large as I thought."

"Don't get too confident, swabbie." Gonzo said. "Overconfidence almost killed us before. If anything, I say we're bound to stay underground for a long while..."

"We're out!" Nudge exclaimed as he pointer out the ceiling's end point, accentuated by the glowing sun and the widening corridor.

"Of course, I could be wrong." Gonzo pointed out. He then made to catch up to the exited crew, hoping to have reached the other side and being at arm's reach of the treasure... only to crash on the back of an immobile Senza. "Hey, what's the big..." He then stood as dumbstruck at the rest of the crew, staring at what could be the most normalized abomination they have seen in a good while. What stared back at them, equal parts curious and angered, could simply be described as a huge, overgrown: "... bird."

This gargantuan bird, which could be best explained as a cross between a cuccoo and a vulture, sidestepped lazily around, eying every member of the pirate crew in turn, making them uneasy and afraid to take one more step forward. In an incredible showcase of speed challenging sheer mass, the bird pecked at the dusty ground and raised its head in a flash, making the ground tremble slightly and bringing up a lot of sand towards the fearful crew.

"This does not look good." Niko commented.

"No... way..." Zuko sneered sarcastically.

And there they stood, waiting for some sort of action, waiting for an opening, waiting for a fight... but something was wrong. As much as the bird stared at them with a hungry leer, it did not move an inch forward to attack them. As dangerous as it seemed, Link decided to investigate, so he inched forward, which was greeted by a loud, deafening screech and a more determined stare by the large bird. Despite cries of protest from his comrades, Link walked on, hands raised to try and show the bird he meant no harm, and braved to look somewhere other than the bird's face. He then noticed something strange when he looked at the bird's feet: the feet were chained up, and the small chain gave the bird virtually no room to maneuver. Even if the bird wanted to rip away his arm, it couldn't unless he was foolish enough to get too close.

Link decided to try looking into the bird's thoughts using the Command Melody. He pulled out his Wind Waker baton and, as usual, an odd melody rose from the vicinity. Link closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was seeing through the bird's eyes, and though the birds thoughts were very disorganized, he managed to make out a few things:

"If only I had enough strength to break away from these chains..."

"I'm so very hungry... I'm gonna die here any day now."

"So you want to mock the bird, no? Why don't you come closer and we'll see who's mocking who without a limb!"

"I just hope that purple thing doesn't burst out today."

Link's eyes opened wide and he snapped out of his trance. In that small time, he learned enough to think up a strategy. He dashed over to Senza and motioned to let him seek something in the big food bag. Senza looked at Link apprehensively and tightened the hold on the bag, forcing the young hero to resort to one of his more powerful tools: his big, wide puppy-dog eyes. "Don't look at me like that. You're too old for this, you know." Senza protested. This did not dissuade Link. "It's not gonna work this time. No, no... Don't. I won't let you... You... I... Fine, then. Be quick." Senza relented and lowered the food bag, and Link stuffed his head inside. After scavenging a while he pulled out a smaller bag chock-full of fruit. "Wait, that's for dinner." Senza shouted while Link threw the bag over to the bird, which pecked at the bag until there was nothing in there.

"You mean, that _was_ for dinner." Mako fixed.

"Well, at least he didn't get the... BEEF!" Senza exploded when he saw Link holding a large cut of beef in front of the bird, who looked at it curiously. Link got close enough to be in the bird's reach, but this time, there was no screech, no angry stare, no pecking. Link set the beef down carefully and let the bird peck at it mercilessly. Afterwards, Link felt it was alright to approach the bird and made to pet him, leading to some audible gasps by the audience. The bird was more friendly now, however, and let him touch him without a hint of hostility. Link turned to the pirates and, smiling, gave them a thumbs up.

"Sometimes I wonder about you." Tetra did not delay her reaction, complete with cynicism. Link's smile faded a bit, but quickly mounted his more serious face, as there was still something else to do. He dashed to the bird's feet and inspected the chains holding him. The locks were sturdy, yet surprisingly simple, and they could possibly be outmatched by a couple of swings from his Skull Hammer, he thought. The Skull Hammer was heavy and unwieldy, but so long as the bird made no sudden movements, he had no problems. He took a mighty swing to a lock, and the hammer struck true. He heard how a few springs and joints weakened, but the lock still did not give in, so he swung again. As he hit, the chains were sent flying, and a lot of twisted metal flew short distances. The first lock was broken, and the bird's left leg was freed.

Just then, the ground started shaking, and the bird started screeching fearfully, trying to fly out of the arena, seemingly forgetting that his right leg was still chained up. Link kicked himself mentally and drew out his sword. He almost forgot the part about a purple monster terrorizing the bird. He looked around, trying to figure out where did that monster was about to emerge when:

"Behind you, Link!"

Link quickly jumped out of the way as the sand started kicking up wildly until it revealed a Mega Leever. This mutated version of the creatures they fought just before had purple skin, was even taller than Gonzo and adorning his mouth were a set of odd teeth that looked like they sprouted from other teeth, for a trident effect. "Teeth... on teeth... how does that even work?" Niko asked, rather alarmed at that.

"I think that small leever _was_ threatening you." Mako pointed out to Tetra, who merely nodded in agreement.

The Leever slid around to where the bird had landed so clumsily, its deformed teeth being slowly twisted forwards. Link had no time to lose if he wanted to save the bird: He equipped his Magical Glove and took out his bow and arrow. He then powered an arrow with fire and shot it at the Leever, setting it on fire. The Leever started screaming (or whatever you'd call his odd sounds to be) as it paced around hurriedly trying to extinguish the flames around it. Tetra saw this as an opportunity and whipped out a bomb, tied it to an arrow and shot it at the Leever. The explosion, magnified the the burning flames, was so great that it pushed the Leever to its side, effectively making him immobile.

"Now's our turn!" Gonzo exclaimed as he pulled out his sabre and egged on the others to follow him toward the tipped-over leever. As soon as the first slash made contact with the body, however, the Leever spun around quickly and knocked a few pirates off their feet. "Retreat! Close range attacks won't work." Gonzo quickly shouted as he saw the futility in approaching the monster.

"Just throw it some bombs!" Tetra shouted at them, taking some willpower not to sprinkle 'idiots' at the end of her sentence.

When the Leever got upright again, his body had turned from purple to furious red, and its target had changed from the bird to Link. Link fumbled with his bow as the Leever charged forward,Trying to aim at the red creature without fully setting the arrow in place. Though the monster was closing in on him, Link didn't move, more out of trying to get the bow to work than out of shock.

"Out of the way, you idiot!" Tetra yelled as she pulled him out of the way just in the knick of time. "Try and be more careful!" She reprimanded Link quite sternly before her attention shifted to the monster of the hour. The Leever was making a turn and heading right bag towards Link. "Bombard him! Now!" Tetra ordered her crew, and the lot pulled bombs out of their bags and launched them at the Leever. The chain reaction of explosions caught the Leever in many degrees, and when the smoke cleared, only several charred remains and bones remained put together.

* * *

[CLANG!]

With that, the Skull Hammer's job was done. The chains were broken completely, and the bird was finally freed. The bird turned around to Link and cawed at him affectionately, lowering its head to let him pet it. Afterwards, the bird ruffled his feathers energetically, letting out a rather large one from his wing, which floated gently over to Link's feet. When Link picked it up, he felt there was something more to this oversize feather, and decided to hold on to it. Then, with a mighty screech, the bird picked up flight, and after a while, got lost on the deep blue skies above.

At that moment, Tetra emerged from the background, clapping slowly. "Good work, men. We've done our good deed of the day." She said. "Now if you don't mind... Let's get moving! We're lagging behind, and I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible."

The crew walked to the exit on the other side of the arena, and entered into a small, partially sunlit room with some half-finished walls, doorways blocked with bars and what looked like the way through was tightly locked under lock and key. Tetra inspected the barred doorways and saw some large mirrors beyond, and on the corner of her eye, a pitch-black crystal. She quickly got the concept of the test (shine up the crystal with sunlight), but there was a small problem: the only source of light was on that small part of the room, and there was no mirror there. "So how are we supposed to redirect the sunlight?" Gonzo wondered. Before they wondered long, Link whistled at them from atop one of the half-finished walls. "How did you get up there, boy?" Gonzo shouted, amazed at seeing the green kid standing there without breaking a sweat. The answer came in form of the large feather Link was waving at them, and demonstrated by jumping back down and landing on his feet perfectly.

"That must be a Roc's Feather." Mako summarized. "Then... the bird we saved was none other than the mystical Roc himself! Boy, what you have there is a rare item that only a few people have claimed to have. Hold on to it, and it'll serve you well."

Link nodded at Mako in thanks and secured the Roc's Feather under his armpit. He then walked over to Tetra and pushed his Mirror Shield onto her arms. "What? Where were you holding this?" Tetra asked, to which Link answered by turning around and showing his shield-less back. Before Tetra could form a word in protest, though, Link leaped through the opening over the unfinished wall and landed on the other side. Tetra sighed and shrugged the whole thing off, instead focusing on redirecting the sunlight at the nearest mirror with Link's Mirror Shield. On the other side, Link began pulling and twisting the mirrors around until it caught the light from the Mirror Shield and redirected it somewhere else.

"Hurry up, Link." Tetra ushered him. "It's tiring to stand still with this thing on."

Link tried several times to set the mirrors until he found a working order to shine the light all across the room to the dark crystal. When the last mirror was set, the crystal turned a bright yellow, and a chest revealed itself near the area where the pirates sat waiting. "It's a key!" Niko said, being the first one to reach the chest. He rushed over to the locked door, which lifted itself as soon as the key was turned. "It's open! Hurry and join us, Link!"

"Does your voice know a tone other than annoying?" Tetra spat out at Niko, walking past him through the opened way.

"It's not just you, then, Link, old buddy." Niko informed Link as soon as he rejoined the team, to which Link shot him an odd quizzical look. "The way she's been putting you down. She's just cranky overall, so don't feel too bad."

The duo walked through the door and caught up with the rest in a fork on the road. "We don't know which way is the right way." Tetra started speaking. "So we'll have to split up again. Mako, Senza and Nudge will come with me. Niko, Zuko and Link with Gonzo. If you find nothing just walk back to the fork and go the other way." And with those instructions, she made to one of the roads... until she was stopped by Link, who was wondering if she had made an error in the splitting. For the briefest of moments, though, Link's eyes locked with Tetra's, and there was an indescribable glint in her eyes, something that told Link that there might be something more than anger motivating her rude actions through the day. Sadness? Fear? Foreboding? He did not know, as Tetra quickly turned back toward the corridor and addressed Link coldly: "Go with your group." She then disappeared into the corridor, followed by the rest in her team.

"I take it back, buddy. It IS just you." Niko corrected himself.

Link sighed sadly. 'A woman's heart is a deep sea of mysteries', a wise old friend once told him, and he was just now feeling the full degree of that. He pulled out something that was hastily wrapped in cloths and, considering the situation, entrusted it to the next best person he could think. "What's that? Is that for me?" Niko wondered as he was given the long item hidden in gray wraps. Link shook his head, and simply gave his friend a ragged piece of paper, stuffing it alongside the wrapped object. Niko sneaked a look at the paper... and quickly closed it, realizing who it was really addressed to.

* * *

Tetra's team had little problem in their way. It was a simple measuring puzzle... with a twist. They simply needed to put enough sand in a weight to open the doorway enough to pass through. The only problem was that the weight had a hole, and the sand trickled out, constantly letting the door down, meaning they had little time to rush past the weight and scuttle under the door. Eventually, Senza managed to get just under the door and held it open, helped by Nudge, and Mako and Tetra got past in a flash.

Link's team, however, was not as lucky. A small round room with a stone floor carved to look like a sumo arena was telling enough that there was an enemy nearby... but nowhere to be seen. Niko walked ahead, despite Gonzo's alerts otherwise, and stood behind one of the sumo starting lines wondering if the opponent would appear opposite him. Well... it did appear... only underneath him, grabbing him by the leg and dangling him like live prey.

"Stalfos...!" Zuko exclaimed while taking a few steps back. It seems that not only Tetra had bad luck with these skeletal creatures, Link figured. Niko thrashed about in a vain attempt to break free, but every move only tightened the Stalfos' hold. Link weighted the options, then suggested the best course of action by pulling out a bomb and prompting Gonzo and Zuko to do the same. When Niko found out what they were doing, it was too late: The free trio had already thrown their bombs in tandem towards the Stalfos, having them explode in the skeleton's feet, chest and head.

"[cough cough] Next time, try not to kill me." Niko protested while trying to shoo off the bomb smoke. "And, can someone help me with this hand I have attached to my leg?"

* * *

The two groups rejoined, though through separate entrances, to what looked to be the largest, most expansive room in the entire set of caverns. It was also by far the emptiest, and the one with the softest sand, so soft, in fact, that it slowly sucked the pirates in if they did not keep moving around.

"Those who have managed to reach the Garo's Room of Many Secrets." A disembodied voice boomed all across the room. "Speak what do you seek to find in here."

"We are in search of the missing pages of Hyruian Lore." Tetra shouted in answer. "They were brought here by an old lady days before tragedy befell the Garo clan."

For a short while, there was silence. The pirates paced around awkwardly, waiting for some sort of answer... maybe in the form of a trap, by the way things were going. "Very well." The voice spoke again. "The pages you seek are indeed here, and they shall be given to you under two conditions." There was much murmuring among the pirates, with mumbles of 'here we go again' and 'what now'. "First, you shall need to make an offering."

"We have rupees, food, and several items we can barter with you." Tetra announced.

"Those things you mention are unimportant. Your offering must be... life." Everybody's color dropped when the words echoed around the empty room. "Mention the name of six of your comrades for the offering. If you complete your second condition, they will be returned unharmed. If not, they shall stay here until someone else can complete it."

"... And the second?" Tetra wondered, to see if all this was worth it.

"The second condition shall be addressed when the first is fulfilled." the voice said plainly, leaving Tetra in limbo.

"Okay..." She thought for a second, then: "Niko."

"Wha...?" Niko managed to say before he was whisked away to a small cage high above the room.

"Mako... Zuko..." Tetra named, witnessing their surprised expressions just before disappearing, making her feel worse every time. "[gulp] Nugde,... S... Sen... za..."

It came down to two: Link and Gonzo. Tetra eyed both of them intensely. She figured the next 'condition' was a battle, so she could use as much muscle as she could. Also, if she won, then the whole bad mood streak she's had today... the whole feeling things were only going from bad to worse... and that stupid conviction she had of a probable repeat story, all that would be for nothing. Thus, she opened her mouth, breathed in and began speaking. "L..."

"Gonzo!"

Tetra was perplexed. Her second-in-command had uttered his own name before she could even try and explain what she wanted to do. Without a second to spare, Gonzo was whisked away to join his comrades in the cage. Tetra broke into a dash to get as close to the cage as possible. "Why did you do that, Gonzo?!" She shouted at the top of her voice.

"Because you were about to make a mistake, Miss Tetra." Gonzo answered. "I know you. You were second-guessing yourself all day long, and when you do that, you tend to do stupid mistakes." Tetra listened intently, wondering whether or not to interrupt him. "You and Link have faced many challenges that I would probably never attempt. You two are the best for this job, and you know it. I cannot read your mind, so I can't imagine why you've been acting like this all day, but I trust Link, and so should you. Do not let fear or vague superstition deter you. Do not let my willing sacrifice be for nothing. Search inside yourself, and find that daring chemistry you're best known for. Let yourself run wild. Be the wild child I watched grow up."

Tetra smiled earnestly at Gonzo, (though if he could see it was a completely different matter), then turned her gaze at Link, who's face showed a small hint of neglect, and turned away. She somehow could not see him eye-to-eye for more than a second. After all, those recurring dreams had come back in full. She was in a perfect little prairie with Link, just enjoying life and their company, then... disaster. She thought the previous day represented the first part of her dream, and she's been wary all day long. But, perhaps it was just a stupid superstition, like Gonzo said. Perhaps she was thinking too much into it. She just needed to let go of that fear and become herself again. She looked at Link again, this time sporting the biggest smile out there. "Shall we, Link?" She said. Link felt the effort she was putting into this, and smiled back to her.

"The second condition you must fulfill..." The voice boomed again. "Rid the Garo Caverns from its curse. Destroy the monster that rules over the others, and all monsters shall disappear from here."

Suddenly, the sand started shifting around, forcing Link and Tetra to run the opposite way. From underneath the sand, a gargantuan plant-like creature emerged, blue in hue and sporting four claw-like mouths. Even the pirates in the relative safety of their cage quivered in fear when they looked straight at the framework of:

Multi-headed Flora Monster

**Manhandla**

"Explain me again, Link." Tetra wondered amidst tittering of the teeth. "How are we supposed to tackle THAT?" She extended her arms as far as she could reach to make her point. Manhandla was impossibly big for a plant, being taller than Link and her, and as wide as four of them laying down.

Link decided to try something right away before Manhandla could strike first: He whipped out his Skull Hammer and aimed for the nearest mouth. The sheer force of the attack knocked the mouth clean off the rest of the plant. This garnered loads of cheering from the gate seats. However, with the sideways swing he pulled off, the overgrown plant began spinning around, exposing its other mouths, which opened and closed threateningly. "Link..." Tetra whispered. "Get back here, now." Link started to inch back from Manhandla, whose mouths opened and closed more and more rapidly. Eventually, all three mouths opened wide, and the temperature in the room started rising dangerously. "Link... run!"

Link sprang into a sprint just in time to avoid getting blasted with a fireball. Manhandla started spewing the fiery rain all across the chamber without bothering to aim or check force, instead relying on the sheer amount of fireballs launched. Link and Tetra started running around in zig-zag motions, trying to outsmart the bombardment. Fortunately for them, as soon as the fireballs touched the sand, they were swallowed in, so there was no staying hazard outside of Manhandla itself.

"Well, there goes our melee strategy." Tetra commented to Link. She then searched her item bag and pulled out a couple of bombchus. "Now, I suggest a long-distance brawl." She gave a few of her bombchus to Link and split up, setting the mechanical bombs every now and then. The bombchus, however, seemed attracted to fire and swerved just in time to reach a falling or sinking fireball, exploding senselessly. Eventually, they were down to their last bombchu. "Come on, little guy." Tetra egged the mouse-bomb on. "Rip that ugly plant a new one." And she let it go on the clearest path she could think of. At first, the bombchu began swerving strangely around, putting Tetra on edge, but eventually, its track became clear, and it made a beeline for the nearest mouth. The grandiose explosion of sand, smoke and green goo provided proof enough that there was a direct hit. "Take THAT, you stupid monster plant."

When the smoke cleared, one of Mandhandla's mouths was reduced to a pulpy mess, but in return, the two remaining mouths bit around furiously. In response to the offensive, Manhandla began spinning wildly and moving all around the area at incredibly fast speeds, trying to cover everywhere really fast. Tetra made tracks when she noticed the monster's newfound speed, and tried to find somewhere to hide, but to no avail. Then, Manhandla started spewing fireballs again, increasing the danger factor, and making Tetra's moves increasingly erratic. Tetra did not know where to go, and somehow every move she made attracted Manhandla closer. She needed a plan, and fast.

[BOING!]

Just then, she found herself flying in the air. It was for the briefest of times, though, as Link's Roc's Feather only allowed for jumping, not floating. When they landed, Link handed Tetra a couple of bombs, hinting her at what they could do. Without a moment to lose, he swung her onto his back, and began bouncing around, avoiding Manhandla and its fireballs. As she rode piggyback, Tetra struggled to tie a bomb to an arrow, but when she managed, getting the aim right was almost too easy. "Ok, Link!" She shouted, probably more out of rush than anything else. "Get us closer!" Link bounced around, dodging the stream of fireballs while trying to predict Manhandla's movements to get closer. When they got close enough, Tetra shot her bomb arrow at one of the monster's mouth. Unfortunately, they were too close, and they were on the downswing, meaning they got caught in the smoke and sand, forcing them to land roughly and assess their situation.

"You okay, Link?" Tetra asked upon seeing a green tunic amongst the dust clouds. Link emerged fully to confirm his well being, only to be met by a shocked face. Link turned around to see what was wrong with Tetra, and his face began to match her: Mandahdla's remaining mouth was set upright, and its mouth began spewing a steady stream of fire, which created a dangerous curtain that entrapped them in a rather close quarter and shrank by the second. "We gotta kill that thing NOW!" Tetra's increasingly freaked-out voice echoed around the room as she searched for ways to destroy Manhandla once and for all. "Bombs? No, we're too close. Arrows? No, they're puny. We need something big, and we need it to reach all the way up there, but what can..."He train of thought suddenly took a convenient stop. She looked at Link as if she had found some newborn hope. "Link! Get that mouth with your Skull Hammer. Jump in with the feather and strike it out of the way."

Link's face turned a new level of serious upon given such desperate instructions. He knew he needed to do this just right, lest the fiery curtain reach them both and burn them away. He pulled out his Skull Hammer and equipped the Roc's Feather. The hammer was really heavy, a trait that was magnified as he jumped, but he needed to get over that and give one last mighty swing to survive, to win, and to get one step closer at finishing this quest. After a couple of practice jumps, he grasped the Skull Hammer tightly and raised it above his head. The force of the jump moved the hammer behind him, and at the peak of his jump...

[TWACK!]

[SPLATTER!]

It was almost instantaneous. The fire stopped, the mouth flew to the corner of the room, and what was left of the living Manhandla started thrashing about in deep pain. Tetra, with the biggest smile on her face, aimed a bomb arrow at the pathetic remains of the monster and exploded it into a million pieces, finally putting an end to the nightmarish curse of the Garo's Caverns, and even discovering a Heart Container to boot.

Then, the sand started shifting again. Without a voice to announce anything, a large treasure chest emerged from the sands in the very middle of the chamber atop a stone floor. On top it bore the inscription 'SACRED PAGES'. "What do you know? Treasure." Tetra said jokingly. "Yes, it's times like these when I really feel alive." She then dusted herself off as much sand as she could, and started walking towards the chest, with Link behind her.

...

Then, suddenly, Link shoved Tetra forward with great force.

"[ptooey] Link!" Tetra roared in newfound anger as she tried hard not to swallow sand. "What is wrong with you? I should..." She then turned around to see Link also on the ground, sand covering his whole face, but still sporting a visible apologetic look in it. As soon as he looked up, though, his face began to wince and contort in various painful ways, until he finally let out a prolonged cry of pain. Tetra's face whitened when she realized the reason of his pain: a Wallmaster had gotten hold of Link's legs, and it was tightening its hold more and more. Tetra, still in shock, looked back at Link's pained expression and realized what was happening there: 'That monster was meant for me.'

The Wallmaster freed up two of its fingers and began walking away, dragging Link with him. Link tried his best to counter the Wallmaster's advance, but the sand was too loose and his leg pain was too much for him to handle. He resorted to trying to claw his way forward, but it did little to avoid being dragged on.

Upon seeing this, the pirates started shouting lividly, trying to get the voice to respond and let them out. Some, like Niko, tried prying the bars out in a desperate attempt to escape and help their friend. The futility of their escape attempts did not stop them from trying everything they could imagine in this short amount of time.

Tetra, on her part, snapped out of her shock thanks to the pirates' shouting and noticed how Link was being dragged off. As quickly as she could, she ran towards him and made a daring dive to grab him. She just barely managed to grab his arms, and contorting her legs in ways she did not think possible, Tetra put her feet in front of her and started pulling to the best of her strength. "Don't worry. I gotcha." Tetra said, strained, but trying to reassure a panicking Link. Despite the soft, shifty sand, Tetra looked like she was making progress, and the Wallmaster seemed to be losing grip of the young hero.

Then, as if knowing that the Wallmaster needed help, a Floormaster emerged from under the sand and tightened the hold on Link's legs, making the blonde boy emit a loud cry of pain. The Floormaster then expertly began digging on the sand, slowly carrying the Wallmaster and Link into it, and forcing Tetra to lose her grip on her partner. Tetra's face began to turned helplessly panicked, but she still tried to retain enough control to rescue Link, so she lunged once more to grab hold of Link. This time, however, she could only grab one of Link's arms, and the combined strength of the Wallmaster and the Floormaster was proving too much for her to counter. Link could only emit short, panicked gasps as his lungs began feeling crushed by the pressure of the sand. The only things above the sand were his head and his right arm, the only part that Tetra could grab hold, and it was slipping fast. "Don't you dare... give up on me... Link!" Tetra said in between gasps of air.

She struggled valiantly. However, her grip failed her, and in a last ditch attempt, she grabbed on to the tunic's sleeve, only to have it rip away in her hands. The last she saw of Link was his helpless, desperate eyes clamoring for help, a help that did not come in time.

"Link..." Tetra whispered, staring exactly at the spot where Link had disappeared.

"LINK!" Tetra shouted at the top of her lungs. He face had transformed entirely into the most desperate, panicked, outright insane face she had ever pulled; her breath had become shortened and audible, and her arms began trembling involuntarily. In a fit of desperation, she pulled out her sabre and began using it as a makeshift shovel. "LINK!" Tetra shouted again. "WHERE ARE YOU! LINK!"

"No... no... no... Don't you dare leave me here!"

"No, this can't be happening... Not for real, it can't..."

"Dammit, Link, **ANSWER ME!!!**"

She shoveled so hard, and she pushed so much sand away with such inhuman strength that her sabre could not handle the intense work and bended out of shape. Frustrated, Tetra chucked the blade away and continued digging with her own hands.

"LINK! Where... where are you, Link... I cannot... I cannot just sit and watch someone I... another... I care about... Link... _LIIIIIINK!_ Li-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ink..."

Tetra clenched her knees with such strength that her white pants got stained with small red splotches. For the first time in who-knows-how-long, warm, bitter tears flowed freely from Tetra's eyes, and as much as she clenched her eyes tightly, she could not help it. She sobbed quietly, through clenched teeth and quivering lips, as he body trembled uncontrollably, and her mind mercilessly replayed those last few moments over and over again. Overhead at the cage, the pirates stared in silence and shock, in complete disbelief of what they had just witnessed. They looked sickly pale, and even though they have seen plenty of bad moments in the past, few really touched so close to home like this.

And the Heart Container that sat not too far away snapped clean in half with a loud crack.

**To be continued**


	10. Tetra's Lament

Never gonna give you up, REVIEW ANSWERIN' time!

lilgreenfox: Thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou! You don't know how much this means to me. I was so worried for these past chapters (9, specifically) but you really made my day there.

shadows-of-brilliance: Well... that's a tough thing to explain, but here goes my fixer: 1) I needed something to INVALIDATE the Roc's Feather, otherwise, Link could just escape. 2) The curse INVITED the monsters inside the caverns, and breaking it would just run them outta town, not destroy them on the spot, which gave the Wall/Floormasters time to act before leaving. Well, I tried. [sigh] I guess nothing short of a remake would fix this timeline... er, plothole.

Inspiration of Imagination: You won't read this until you get here, but I'll answer anyway. Yes, I have a problem with it. English is NOT my main language. I've been trying to stay in past tense ever since, so if you read something in present tense, make sure it's not dialogue or someone's thought before coming to me again.

_Legend Of Zelda_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 10:

Tetra's Lament

_I have lived a great and exciting life. I've had many adventures, I've made a made for myself as a bona-fide sea dog, I've made a home out of the sea and I have left many stories to be told. I have been so blessed to count with comrades that I can trust and trust me back. Gonzo... Mako... Nudge... Senza... Zuko... and Niko. Thanks to them, I have been able to live these fifteen years to the fullest. Yes, they can act silly, or sometimes bring up some totally worthless thing, but you know what? That's just part of their charm. Besides, they've been there for me, through the good times and the bad, never faltering nor letting me down when it really counted. And Link... Link... He's helped me so much in these short two years, and he's even saved me from certain doom at least three times... and I couldn't even return the favor. I should have seen this, I know how I am. I tried to stop it. I told myself that he wasn't going to come to any harm, and I thought myself capable to protect him._

_But that's not what happened. In the end, I couldn't do anything. Yet, I'm here, alive and well. What do you think you are, you stupid girl, thinking any of it made a difference? He probably even felt like dirt by the end of the day. Not a moment goes by without me wishing I could have him right here and say I'm sorry. Every time I think about him, however, my heart hurts so bad, it's unbearable. If there was some way I could rip my heart away, if there was some way I could stop feeling and throw everything away, I would take it without looking back. Even then, if there could be only one chance, even if it was for one fleeting moment, I'd want to see him again._

_I want to see you!_

_Link..._

* * *

"Yes, I will get to cleaning the laundry soon! Yes, I know you're down to your last pair of undies. You don't have to paint me the picture, I see it all too clear every day. Just let me get something I forgot first."

Niko left the gaze of his superior and emerged on the top deck, making a beeline for the top mast. He climbed up the ladder with swift agility and almost tripped when reaching the crow's nets. "Where are you, my telesc... oh." His usually loud voice was suddenly muted when he noticed he was not alone atop the crow's nest. A yellow and blue figure sat there, slouching forward on raised knees, the arms and a mess of blond hair completely covering a face. And clutched firmly in a hand was a torn green cloth. "Captain?" Niko braved to speak. Despite waiting a while for a response, Tetra did not move an inch. "I... I'll just grab my telescope and be out." He then inched over to where a lonely telescope sat and picked it up."Ok, I'll leave you to your... your thoughts." Niko said, struggling to find a proper set of words. He then started climbing down, keeping his sights on Tetra, who did not even make a sound.

After Niko went inside, the entire top deck was deserted, without a single pirate doing rounds, cleaning or even hanging around. None, that is, except Tetra. These past three days, whenever she was not locked up in her room, she either climbed on the crow's nest, or laid eagle-spread around the bridge, or sat at the very tip of the bowspirit staring straight down at her own reflection in the water, oftentimes doing these things for hours at a time. Furthermore, she had not uttered a word to anyone, not even her own second-in command Gonzo, ever since their retreat from Garo Caverns. She kept to herself, not even bothering to handle things around the ship or looking at people in the face, and if nothing else, she found a tiny sliver of peace there.

And then, Niko came right back up.

"You'll have to excuse me for being so blunt, Ma'am." Niko began. Though trying to pull off his softest, most tactful voice, he still spoke rather matter-of-factly. "But all this ain't so good for you. All this moping and slumping is a killer to your self-esteem, and... and... Look, even your hair's losing color. Why, it looks greenish already. This isn't like you... Well, at least the 'you' I'm used to. The 'you' I'm used to would not let go much farther than a sidestep. The 'you' I'm used to would get angry, yes, but would use that same anger to fuel up her drive further and make things happen. The 'you' I'm used to knows what the rules and the risks of the pirate life are. This is just one of those risks."

Tetra remained still. The only semblance of movement came from the wind playing with her rumpled, unkempt hair. Niko took a moment to see if he would get some reaction, but after noticing none, he sighed and merely turned his gaze to the sea.

"I remember when I told my papa that I wanted to become a pirate." Niko spoke again. "He yelled at me, a lot. He told me, between yells, that pirates are no more than filthy thieves and murderers, and deserve no place in our world. He told me that if I were to become a pirate, I would have to learn to harden my heart, and I would have to live my life knowing that I was taking something from someone who probably worked hard from it, and that I would live my life watching my comrades dying in front of me and risking dying at every corner. He then asked me..." Niko then pulled his best gruff voice as he tried imitating his father. "'Are you sure you want that sort of thing for your life, Niko? Will you be able to live having that massive weight on your conscience?'" Niko then turned to Tetra, only to see the same unmoving figure. "I thought about it a lot. Was being a pirate worth all that? Would I be able to handle the rough life of a pirate, with death following right behind me? Well... I'm here, aren't I?" He said while pointing at himself.

Niko sighed when he still found himself without any sort of reaction. " Miss Tetra." He spoke again, managing a lower, warmer voice than last. "I know you miss Link. I miss him, too. He _was_ the only one who would treat me as an equal, you know. You know how he was, always cheerful, with a smile on his face and a joke every day. Say what you will about him, he always wanted to bring everybody's spirits up. He surely didn't want you to sit around torturing yourself, letting yourself go and doing absolutely nothing. He probably wanted you to pick yourself back up and go on, to find the strength within yourself to keep smiling and finish whatever you were doing for him. I got that pretty soon, which is why I'm back up and about, finishing that 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle we were working on." He suddenly stopped when he caught himself and what he was saying. "Oh, wait, you weren't supposed to know that. Er... anyway. What's important is that Link wanted you to be happy, and even though he's not with us anymore, I'm sure his wishes remain the same. So please... allow yourself to be happy."

Niko looked intently at Tetra and wondered if she would understand what he wanted to tell her. While she indeed shifted her legs around (making Niko gasp audibly), she only repositioned herself a bit closer to the mast and stayed there, inert. Niko sighed yet again, but then...

"OH!" Niko exclaimed and began searching his pockets. He then pulled out a long object wrapped in gray cloths, and after looking at it in a rather nostalgic manner for a few brief moments, he set it down at Tetra's feet. "Link gave me this when we were at the desert. He meant it for you, though. I can only imagine how he originally thought of giving it to you, but I guess he thought you were just not... easygoing at the time. He left you a note as well. I'm... sorry to say I couldn't help it, and I read it... but I couldn't understand any of it. Perhaps he thought you'd get it?"

Then, slowly but steadily, Tetra's head started tilting backwards. Her face had transformed totally from the last time she had let anyone see her: her tan was washing away, leaving a sickly pale skin in its stead; Her bloodshot eyes squinted to the light (they were probably closed most of the time), exposing large bags under them; her lips were cracked and began losing their color, apparently trying to match her skin's paling tone; her overall frame was elongated and skinny, an obvious victim of self-imposed undernourishment.

"Whoa!" Niko let out involuntarily. He knew Tetra was skipping meals, but he didn't think it was _that_ bad. "How long have you gone without eating? I mean you look..." He suddenly stopped himself when he noticed he was entering dangerous waters with that topic. "Eh... what I mean to say is... why don't I get you something to eat? In the mean time, you try and figure out what that note of his means." And with a series of gestures which supposedly were meant to make her feel okay, he climbed down the stairs and entered the lower decks.

For what seemed like forever, Tetra sat still, staring at the gray cloths in front of her. Inside those cloths lay Link's final message, a supposedly cryptic note that Niko could not decipher, accompanied by an object, a gift meant for her. He most likely was waiting for the perfect moment to give it to her, and she was scaring him off every time. She tried a couple of times to reach for the object in front of her, but she felt as though something inside her stopped her. The guilt inside her was wrenching her so that she felt unworthy to even touch Link's final gift. Her heartache was getting so painful she heavily considered just leaving the object there and return to her room where she wouldn't be bothered. However, she remembered Niko's words: Link wanted her to be happy, and he wanted her to move on. Even if it pained her, even if it made her arm twitch and tense up, she decided to open the cloth and see what Link had left her.

Inside, there were two things: First, the note Niko was talking about, a crumpled, worn piece of paper with words and drawings hastily written in. Second, Link's Wind Waker conductor's baton, the mystical musical instrument that allowed Link to control the winds and warp to certain places, among other things. As she looked to the baton longingly, she began to remember the times she's seen Link using it, from one time he changed the direction of the wind to their advantage against another pirate gang to the latest when he figured out a bird's thoughts and feelings by waving it around. Tetra's fingers ran gently through the white baton's grooves, as if thinking she were indirectly caressing Link's own hands. Before grasping it, though, Tetra decided to go for the piece of paper first, in a sudden desire to know what it said. While it was indeed addressed to Tetra, Link's message read more like a miniature instruction booklet than an actual message. Some ramblings about thinking up as north and down as south and 3/4 time and 4/4 time and drawings with arrows pointing everywhere provided the bulk of the writings. One particular set of drawings, arrows pointing down, right, left and up in that order, was circled and 'important' was written by it. Among the instructions, however, was a small message Tetra discovered at the bottom of the paper:

_Never say never. There's always a way._

_I know you can do it._

Tetra's eyes welled up as she reread the small message on the paper. It was almost as if from the beyond, Link was still trying to cheer her up and give her a reason to live. Tetra grasped that piece of paper tightly with both hands and pressed it against her chest while her mouth transformed into a sort of sad smile and she closed her eyes in a vain attempt to suppress newly formed tears from rolling down her cheeks.

Just then, a warm, bright glow resonated from Tetra's body, brightening up everything around her.

"So how are we?" Niko called as he climbed back up the ladder to the crow's nest, balancing the promised meal in his head. "I hope you like the classic ham and cheese sandwich. It was all I could smuggle from the mess hall. Senza can be such a dictator sometimes when it comes to food." When he reached the crow's nest and went for Tetra, he started noticing something strange in her, but he couldn't put his finger where. After all, she was still looking rather pale, she still had bags under her bloodshot eyes, her hair was still a mess, and she still had that malnourished look about her. But there was something else definitely there, something mere mortal eyes couldn't see. Maybe it was her posture, now sitting with her back straightened up, maybe it was the fact that she was looking at him more attentive than before, or maybe it was the small smile forming in her face. Either way, she was already looking changed. "So, did you figure it out?"

Tetra looked back at the crumpled piece of paper in her hands. Going through the instructions once over gave her an improved sense of understanding. North, south, east, west... it was not a mention to cardinal points, but actually movements of the baton. If she followed the movements on the sheet of paper in the proper timing, she may create the same effects Link did. But wait, she thought, if Link could do it because he was the chosen 'Waker of the Winds', how could she do it, having no real connection to the baton?

"Looks like you're mulling over it a lot." Niko said, keeping a watchful eye over Tetra. "Why don't you eat over it?" He then re-offered the simple sandwich to her.

* * *

The sky was clear. The wind gave a soft breeze. The ocean was calm and its wakes were small. There was nobody on deck except her. If anything, Tetra figured, this would be the perfect time to give this a try.

Tetra balanced herself expertly on the tip of the ship's bowspirit, and looking straight at the sea, pointed the Wind Waker baton as if there was a row of people waiting for her to begin conducting. She took a quick glance at the paper and decided to practice a simple one: the Wind's Requiem. She swung the baton according to how she interpreted the instructions: she imagined a map in front of her and she was pointing the directions in it. She managed to conduct the baton correctly... but nothing happened. She looked at the baton curiously, wondering where did she go wrong. She tried conducting at a slower pace... nothing. She tried conducting faster than before... nothing. She tried making sure her timing was pitch perfect... nothing. Not a sound, not an effect... absolutely nothing. She tried conducting again and again and again... but nothing was resulting, increasing her frustration levels. It reached the point where she couldn't handle it anymore, and she threw the white baton towards the mast.

She regretted that immediately. As soon as she let go of the baton, Tetra saw how a piece of green cloth got tangled in it, threatening to fly away in the wind. Tetra's eyes widened in terror, and she ran towards where the baton (which was just barely hanging on to the torn piece of cloth) fell. She skidded in the floor and clutched the cloth tightly, carrying by extension the baton. Tetra was wearily getting on her feet when she stumbled and tripped, resorting to crashing onto the mast to avoid falling back down. 'What do you want from me?' she thought as she looked into the green cloth, her face drawing into desperate frustration. 'What am I supposed to do now, Link? I can't do this. Whatever you did to make this thing work, I don't have it. But this is all you left me, so...' Her thoughts began to race as she searched in her mind all the times that she shared with Link.

She remembered when Link offered her a piece of brownie cake.

"You must have known..."

She remembered when Link and her were paired up by none other than the Goddesses themselves.

"There was something..."

She remembered the smiling face of Link as he grabbed hold of her arm to save her from falling down a pit.

"You knew I had..."

She remembered Link giving her a yellowed piece of paper which belonged to the Ancient Hyrulian Book.

"Even if I didn't..." Tetra's eyes opened up really wide. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks when she remembered what that piece of paper said: It explained the basics behind the Light Force, a mystical energy innate to the women in the royal family. "Could I use the Light Force to make the baton work? How?" She looked again at the baton wrapped around the torn green cloth, and sighed dejectedly imagining the futility of it all. Then, words from Link's message popped into her mind like a beacon in the night: _I know you can do it_.

Tetra raised her gaze to the skies, letting her eyes lose themselves in the infinite expansions of white and blue, letting her mind wander a bit. Even as he was not among them, Link was not giving up on her. Why, then, should she be so easily frustrated and give up. "All right." She whispered. "I'll do it. For you."

Tetra returned to the bowspirit and positioned herself in a conducting stance, focusing more on her inner self and on her heart than on the more technical things like timing or speed. She began pointing the Wind Waker baton upwards, and in one smooth motion swung it towards her left, then her right. At the end, though, a soft white light began glowing from Tetra's hand, which extended and covered the baton. A soft, ethereal melody began to play apparently from nowhere, followed by the winds changing direction and becoming stronger... more uplifting, if you will. The wind played gracefully with Tetra's hair, lifting it sideways and forming smooth waves with it, and ruffled with her clothes energetically and cheerfully. For the first time in three days, Tetra was genuinely smiling and laughing.

* * *

"The convoy was burning and their occupants were screaming for help. Jack sought to put out the flames, but bandits were keeping him at bay, hollering and whooping as the flames continued to rise."

Gonzo was sitting quietly in his bunk, doing some much-needed catching on on a book he had bought sometime before. Things were going relatively calm today, so he thought he could leave things run their course without him. Of course, when one is aboard this particular pirate ship, one should know that things are never quiet for long, something that Gonzo should have known better.

[THUMP!]

[REEEEEN! REEEEEEEN!]

[CRASH!]

"What does a man need to do to get some quiet time in here?" Gonzo grumbled as he set the book down and set to investigate the source of the noise. After checking the cargo hold, the mess hall and the cannons, he walked up to the top deck, only to find a mess of bags and a tipped-over boat at starboard. Gonzo gave a loud groan and began walking towards the mess. "Whoever is responsible for this better come forward. You'll punishment will be less severe if you..." He suddenly stopped cold when he saw something within the spilled items, a distinguishing feature that was not part of any pirate ranked below him. It was an arm covered in wraps. "Eh... Miss Tetra?"

"Less criticizing... and more helping..." Tetra managed to utter underneath the wreckage. "... Please."

* * *

The preparations were ready: the boat was set, the cargo was loaded, and the lines were ready lo be lowered. The only thing that was missing was the occupant.

"Are you sure you don't want any company, Miss Tetra?" Gonzo insisted, worried about his captain's decision to go on this trip alone. Tetra answered by stopping by him and shaking her head quietly. Tetra began walking towards the boat, sent off by her crew in the utmost respect. At the end stood Niko, sporting that silly, buck-toothed smile of his, fiddling with his collar neck occasionally. Tetra stopped by him and looked at him meaningfully, to which Niko nodded courteously. Suddenly, Tetra went for her buck-toothed subordinate and grabbed him on a tightening embrace, surprising everyone, especially Niko, who was not sure if he should return the hug.

"Thanks, Niko." Tetra whispered in Niko's ear before letting go of him. Niko looked thoroughly embarrassed with his flushed expression, his darting eyes and his awkward smile.

"Eh... it was nothing, captain." Niko managed to say while trying to hide his red face.

And with some final goodbyes, Tetra boarded the boat and rowed some distance away into open sea. Once she did, she pulled out the Wind Waker baton, which was now adorned with the ragged green cloth, and following the instructions in the message, she tried the directions that were circled: the Ballad of Gales. She conducted in one smooth, fluid motion which invoked another soft melody to play from the winds, after which a large, red, froggish figure riding a cloud screamed through the air until it stopped suddenly within feet of Tetra's face.

"So where to now, green kid?" Cyclos asked, not really looking at who was holding the baton. Tetra cleared her throat to get the large frog's attention. "What? Hey, you're not the green kid." Cyclos noticed.

"Yeah, well... I'm a friend of his." Tetra said, still spooked by the gargantuan red frog staring at her with weird jumpy eyes, uncomfortably close to her. "Can you take me somewhere? Please?"

"Well... I don't know..." Cyclos mused for a while and drifted back a ways, giving Tetra some much-needed breather space. "I am supposed only to ferry the Wind Waker..." Tetra presented him the baton she was holding in response. "I meant the person who uses that... The chosen one... Green kid!" Cyclos sighed heavily after losing energy getting exasperated for no particular reason. "Where is he?"

"He..." Tetra began turning her head away from Cyclos, wondering how she would tell him. "He's indisposed. He needs me to go somewhere, somewhere only you can take me..."

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but..."

"I don't wanna say more here." Tetra stated. Cyclos eyes her cautiously over that last statement. He was definitely suspicious of her, but he saw through those firm, determined blue eyes of Tetra's and determined she was not pulling his leg. "But I really need you now."

"Well, If the Wind Waker wills it, then I will oblige." Cyclos shrugged. "Where to, O loopy-haired one?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this..." Tetra said, remembering the last times she rode the winds to arrive someplace remote. "... but take me to where the Queen of the Fairies dwells." she declared firmly.

"Talk about stuck-up..." Cyclos muttered under his breath before beginning to swirl around Tetra's boat faster and faster, forming a humongous tornado that lifted the boat off the water, disappearing into the skies above.

* * *

"I'll never get used to this..." Tetra said forcibly as she clutched the sides of the boat almost desperately. The tornado had long since dissipated, and the boat had stayed still for a good time, but still she lay, her back to the skies, willing herself not to puke what little food was in her stomach. After the dizziness wore off (well, enough to let her stand up, at least), she saw that she had made it. She was in the Fairy Queen's fountain. It had changed little since the last time she was there with Link a few weeks ago. Perhaps here she could find the answers to what was troubling her.

Then, a small jingling sound was emitted from behind her. When Tetra turned around, she saw a small brown thing hide quickly among the trees. Tetra was curious as to what kind of creature would be hiding in this otherwise desolate place. Disregarding the current urgent matter for a moment, she hopped off the boat and headed to where the small brown thing was. As she drew closer, the jingling got more jittery and irregular, seemingly simulating fear. When she got close enough to appreciate what was behind the trees, a small, round, wooden creature with stumpy appendages and a leaf that acted as a mask stared back at her. She only had time to open her mouth to try and talk to it when the creature yelped in an oddly cute tone that could be best described as a high-pitched gurgling voice, and ran off as fast as his stumpy little legs allowed it, jingling at every step.

"Wait!" Tetra called, trying to get the wooden creature's attention. "I just want to ask you something... and there he goes." She finished, half-annoyed.

"Yeah, he's a bit timid. Give him some time. He'll warm up to you."

"Wha... AAAAH!" Tetra yelped startled to find Venus floating JUST behind her. She took a few steps back as she tried to calm her nerves. "What is it with mystical creatures ignoring personal space today?"

Venus took a quick glance at Tetra before floating off to where the stumpy creature had fled. "Makar." She called. "Don't worry, you can come out. There's nothing to fear." Tetra was feeling awkwardly left out of the conversation as Venus kept her back turned. It was not for long, though, as Venus turned back carrying the wooden creature in her hands. "See? She's not scary."

"Eh... hi." Tetra said stiffly. "What's your name?"

"I'm... I'm Makar." the small wooden creature said, still a bit timid, but showing signs of gathering courage. "I'm just a simple wood spirit that loves the forest."

"He's so modest." Venus said. "He's sage of the earth. He works with the Deku Tree to expand the forest to all reaches possible. Also, he plays a mean violin."

"That loopy hair..." Makar said as he pointed over to Tetra's hair. Tetra was getting increasingly annoyed by this. "I know you! You're that pirate girl that was with Link. Link and I are buds, you know. So? So? You heard anything about him?"

"That's a good question, Makar." Venus validated the creature's inquiry. She then looked straight at Tetra with a real quizzical stare. "So where _is_ Linky? Is he hiding from me, the tease?"

Tetra was getting an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Here she was, in front of the one she wanted to meet, talking about what she wanted to talk about... but her nerves were betraying her. There was a nagging feeling in her mind, something that she might have forgotten, but couldn't quite spot it.

"Link's..." Tetra struggled to even cope with the thought, uttering it was a whole different matter. "Link was... He got..."

Venus' face was slowly transforming from her inquiring state to a more worried look as she saw Tetra struggle with such a simple question. The mere fact that the pirate leader was stuttering nervously gave Venus the answer she sought, though it was not she wished to know. "Link's gone, isn't he? From among us?"

Tetra did not dare look forward. "Yes." She managed to say in almost a whisper.

Venus sighed deeply as she set Makar down to the ground. She floated lazily about as she pondered the situation. "I have to wonder..." She said as she looked over to Tetra. "Do you even remember what I told you?"

"What?" Tetra asked in response.

"Just as well... I feared this would happen." Venus turned sideways dramatically. "Link was gonna get swamped by everything, trying to get you to act your role, which you haven't. And when the inevitable happened, there would be no one else to blame but you."

"WHAT?!" Tetra snapped, her fury blaring like it hasn't in a while. "If you think you can resolve this by putting the blame on me, then you got another thing coming. I don't care if you're a deity or not! You oughta show some more respect!"

"Well..."Venus said, turning her back fully at Tetra, and began floating away. "If that is your way of thinking, then I'm afraid this conversation is over."

"No-- No! Wait!" Tetra pleaded, her rage suddenly drained and replaced with a sense of urgency and desperation. "I... I'm sorry. I just need your help really bad. I'm desperate. I don't know what to do. I haven't eaten much of anything in three days, I've barely slept, I'm growing pale as a scrap of paper... I can't even think properly, because every time I try to stop and think about anything, _he_ pops right in. My mind keeps repeating that fateful moment and everything that happened before. I know I was a jerk to him, and still he sacrificed himself for me. I tried so hard to rescue him, but it was all for naught. I saw his horror-stricken eyes as he was dragged into the sand by these two beastly severed hands. I cannot even begin to describe the grief that torments me. It's so bad that it took until now for me to get over my whiny, moping self long enough to come here, in search for something, _anything_, because in this broken, barely beating blood bridge of mine sill resides that minuscule sliver of hope that he's still _alive_, that Link somehow survived the onslaught against the two hands and tons of pounds and pressure of sand, that he is waiting for me somewhere, and I will be able to see him once more. So please." Tetra's voice was breaking severely at this moment while she fought back newly formed tears. "Don't go. I have nowhere else to turn."

While her back was still turned, Venus' feeling could easily be interpreted. Her arms flopped down, only climbing up vaguely, in a vain attempt to look cheery. She also did not float about, but merely stood still, rapt with attention. Her eyes were closed in deep meditation, procuring the wisdom to answer properly to this. "You should know..." she began, "That you will not like that I have to tell you. Will you hear it?"

Tetra did not need to think much of it. As harsh as the Fairy Queen's words were to be, she could not risk simply missing out on them. "Yes." She said firmly.

"Very well..." Venus began. "Do you truly not remember what I told you last time?"

Tetra remained quiet for a few moments. She tried hard to remember what the Fairy Queen had told her last time, but she couldn't think up much. It wasn't a long time ago, but so much has happened in that time, it was hard to concentrate on one specific thought. "You said... That I should follow the book." Venus nodded as Tetra began remembering correctly. "And you told me to... to take care of Link..."

"Yes." Venus said. "And remember when I call you on not being honest with yourself? I told you to be more honest with yourself, 'cause that would save you a lot of headaches. Were you being honest with yourself?"

"Yes." Tetra immediately responded. "I've... I've tried to do as was told, and tried to progress through the challenges and find the missing pages as quickly as I could, and... what?"

Venus shaking her head and holding her hand up was what made Tetra stop mid-sentence. "Nope, nope. You and I both know that's not what I meant." She then began floating around Tetra more closely, examining her closely. "It's just like this bun in your head. You have beautiful hair, don't you? Yet you choose to roll it up in a way that makes you look like some sort of creature that'd be fit to live in a snowflake. You have great potential, but you choose to decide to shoo that potential away, since you can't really hide it, and leave it in the corner like it was the last thing you'll use."

"Ok... I think I get it." Tetra said, still trying to make sense of everything. "I have potential, but I've been neglecting it, right?" Venus nodded in approval at this. "But, and this is the clincher, I don't know of this potential I'm supposed to have, so then there must be something wrong somewhere. Am I wrong?"

"Nope. You're getting there." Venus said with a grin on her face, seemingly enjoying seeing Tetra fill in the blanks. "I also saw something wrong last time. Back then, there was no doubt the missing pages were the problem. After all, how would you know how to become a proper ruler if the instruction manual didn't have the crucial information?" Venus' complexion then turned into a more serious one. "Now, however, you should have enough information to at least pull a decent show as princess, but here you are, still the same ragtag pirate that asked me whether my doll was creepy and hesitated to produce the Goddesses' Compass, an essential item to finishing your quest. You have been tepid at best in your quest to reclaim your new kingdom, doing only the bare minimum, thinking only of finishing as quickly as possible, like this were just another one of your adventures. And this, all this that's happened to Link and all of your anguish, they're a direct result of it."

Tetra started looking down to her feet with a pained expression on her face. The pangs on her chest were burning anew, strengthened by Venus' words. "So... that's it." Tetra said, almost whispering. "I'm through. I messed up royally, and I can't even find a way to justify it. And worse, it seems like there's not even a way to rectify it." Tetra's hands began to tremble involuntarily as she slowly ran headlong into the brick wall she had wanted to avoid. "It's my fault. Because of me, Link's..."

"No." Venus interrupted Tetra's self-branding tirade. "I never said it could not be rectified." At this statement, Tetra's eyes opened wide and stared straight at Venus in a stated of subdued shock. "Again, what I'll ask of you, you may not like, but I want you to explain exactly what happened that day."

"That day?" Tetra did not understand the Fairy Queen's request. "Why?"

"Well, sometimes you can find that one detail that can make a difference." Venus explained. "It's worked for the Phoenix, you know."

"Well, he... I... I fell, and he..."

"Ok, tell you what." Venus interrupted, opting to sit at the edge of the boat while prompting her guests to sit as well (Makar found a seat right by Tetra's legs). "Start from the beginning of that day, try to not leave anything of importance out."

Tetra closed her eyes in deep concentration, breathed in deeply, and then, to the best of her ability, recounted the events of that day. She spoke of how she was in a foul mood in the morning, of how she was afraid of going to the desert, but Link convinced her otherwise. She spoke of the Garo and their curse, of the different traps and dangers found inside the caverns, of the gigantic prisoner inside. She spoke of her less-than-helpful manner, of her scorning comments and of her senseless lack of trust, which she expressed deep regret as she considered it a factor in Link's despondent attitude. She then spoke, laboriously so, of Link's final moments, how he still worked alongside her, how he saved her and tried to save himself as well, and how two ghastly overgrown purple detached hands wrangled him and sank him into the sand.

"The only thing I managed to save from him... was a lone piece of cloth from his sleeve. I still keep it close to me at all times."

Venus' eyes remained closed the whole way through in deep meditation over the things Tetra had told her. She remained like this for a while, while Tetra breathed deeply as to avoid another breakdown. Finally, the Fairy Queen spoke, with the most serious of tones despite her smiling face, the words that were buzzing through her mind ever since Tetra's plea.

"You love him, don't you?"

Tetra was taken aback by this. What color she had regained in the last few hours was gone, as was her ability to speak. Her eyes resembled two dinner plates, her mouth remained stupidly half-opened and her hands were frozen in place. Her breathing became shallow, beads of sweat inexplicably started rolling from her forehead and her heart drummed up to a faster beat. Never before in her life had a simple sentence brought upon her such an extraordinarily shocking and confusing array of sensations, clashing thoughts and feelings. For the briefest of moments, she thought to answer 'does it matter', but somehow she just couldn't. She searched inside herself for the reason behind her reaction, to make some sense of it all. As hard as she tried, though, there was no real rationale behind this, and trying to use logic did not help. Perhaps, she thought, this goes beyond reason, beyond sense, and no logic could try and resolve it. Perhaps, it just... existed. Its answer, however, may have been given to her already... by the creepy silverish vacant-eyed fairy that chose to look like a child.

Tetra looked at Venus' general direction... but she did not say a word, nor did she nod. She merely looked everywhere but the fairy's face while rubbing the back of her neck, her face flushing red and her heart beating so hard she thought everyone could hear it.

And to add salt to the wound, Venus found herself having a good laugh at the situation. "If anything, I say that you're starting to become honest with yourself." Venus said. "Last time I even suggested something like that, you went wiiiild, girl. You would've hit me in the face if you had the chance." The fairy queen began floating around airily until she positioned herself where she usually appeared. "Now, perhaps that you're moving on the right path, I'll tell you what you came to hear, but only if you listen to everything I say. All right?"

"The right... I... you..." Tetra tried, but something kept her from retorting. Instead, she limited herself nodding in understanding.

"Very well... Link... may still be alive." Venus said, leading to an audible gasp by Tetra. "I can't give you 100% certainty for this, but by the way he was taken, there was a possibility he could survive. One thing's for sure, though: He is definitely no longer in this realm. If you do seek to claim him, you need to go to a place that connects with the spirit realm. Luckily for you, such a place exists within the New land of Hyrule, north-to-northwest of the main country called Waarheid. There will be doorways that seem to open to nowhere to signal where it is. However, it is currently invisible as a method of protection, and you will not be able to enter unless you present your royal credentials in full. You are here as Captain Tetra the pirate, but when you get there, you must be Princess Zelda, heir to the throne. A simple wardrobe change will not be enough, either." Venus said while eying Tetra's get-up. "I say you can even stay in those if you're comfortable in them. The point is what's inside you. You need to embrace your heritage. You need to truly understand the mystical blood that runs in your veins. You need to -and I hate to sound like I'm repeating myself, so listen closely- become more honest with yourself."

"Well... I tried something today." Tetra said, her eyebrows furrowed in a reflective look. "It's what brought me here. The page Link gave me called it the 'Light Force'."

"Yes!" Venus shrieked, stretching her arms forward in excitement. "By Farore, she's getting it. You're starting to learn what your mystical powers can do, and I applaud you for it. So tell me..." Venus lowered herself to see Tetra at face level. "How did it work?"

"Well..." Tetra began, hesitating in explaining things like they were. "Link left me a message, saying he believed in me, so I just couldn't give up..." She fiddled in her bag and inched out the Wind Waker baton dressed in Link's ragged green cloth. "So I searched deep inside myself, letting my heart dictate my flow, and... And I did it."

"You know what you did, right?" Venus said, grinning like an idiot the whole way through. "Take off every excuse, every thought that holds you back, every vain ambition of your old pirate life, 'cause yes, it's old news, and the only reason you're still there is because it's a tool in recovering what's rightfully yours. You have changed, and it's time you reflect that change. Let your heart reign, let your true self shine above your facade, let..."

"Wait!" Tetra interrupted Venus' speech. "That's just it. That's where I'm bound to fail. I have checked myself a few times, and I can assure you there is no hidden 'me'. _This_ is me. I am what I am now. I may yell a lot, I may bellow orders left and right, I may get annoyed easily, I may like to wear my hair up in a bun, I may change my mood in a flash, but guess what? I love me. I'm rough, I'm tough... heck, I've walked through places infested with rats and snakes like they were nothing, and I don't think I'll change. I just don't see myself if I'm not like that."

"Well, then, it's a good thing I never talked about personality." Venus said casually, shutting Tetra up immediately. "You need to be Princess Zelda. You don't need to abandon yourself entirely, though. If you wanna be a rough-n-tough princess, go right ahead. In fact, I think I've heard of at least two other Princesses that were just like that, though my memory of it is very faint."

"All right." Tetra said, nodding in understanding. "So all I have to do is follow my heart?"

"No." Venus exclaimed, still smiling widely. "You gotta get your nose in that book, polish yourself, and pay extra attention to the pages you recovered. They have essential information on how to live your heritage."

Tetra hissed inwardly at the mention of the term heritage. "I'll admit, it's still scary for me. I don't know if I can do it."

Then, a jingling sound made Tetra's attention turn to the stumpy creature right by her. "Don't worry. It'll all be okay." Makar reassured the blond pirate. "I remember when I was deep in the Forbidden Woods, about to be swallowed by a ginormous plant. I kept saying to myself: it'll all be okay, it'll all be okay. And you know what happened?" Makar stopped just long enough to see Tetra's small smile, though her eyes were looking a bit lost. "Link saved me. He went in there, not knowing what he was going to find and... Whack! Slice! Pow! He killed that stupid plant and took me home. That's when Link and I became friends."

"Well that's nice." Tetra said.

"Link trusts you. I know, otherwise you wouldn't have his conductor's baton. And now, he's me. He's at the maw of the killer plant, and he can't do much, but he knows he can confidently repeat the mantra: everything will be okay. What happens next..." He then pointed at Tetra with his stumpy arm, "is up to you."

"There's one more thing, though." Venus said, her smiling face sliding away. "Link may not have much time. I'm not sure how much, but the sooner you go there, the better your chances of rescuing him. If you truly love him, you will do the impossible to review all there is within the Ancient Book and go to the place that connects with the spirits. If you are too late, then I'm afraid that Link may truly die."

Tetra had a sudden surge of dread creep up her body. She looked up to Venus for a sign that she may be joking on that last statement... but there was nothing even suggesting it. Venus was, for lack of a better term, dead serious about this. Tetra sighed deeply, realization hitting her hard in the face. This was no longer her last great adventure, as she first declared. This was no longer one of her pirate things. This was very serious. She could barely believe it, but it came down to this: Link's life depended on her ability to co-opt her Zelda persona.

This time, however, she was ready to take the plunge. "All right." Tetra said softly. "I will do it. I will leave my pirate past behind, and I will do my best to become the heir I need to be." At that moment, Tetra bit her lips to avoid saying the two words her heart was screaming to say.

"Remember, the Light Force will benefit you greatly if you can master it." Venus reminded Tetra as she started to pull out the Wind Waker baton. "You can even sway the Goddesses' Compass to guide you to the place that connects with the Spirit Realm with the Light Force's influence."

"Thanks." Tetra answered.

"Also..." Venus said teasingly." What have I been saying constantly?"

"Eh... I should be more honest with myself?" Tetra said, unsure where that came from.

"Right." Venus said. "So you can begin by saying those two words your heart is screaming to say."

Tetra tried to hide her shock, but the fact that the Fairy Queen knew that was surprising, to say something. At the end, though, she smiled at Venus and uttered in what could be her calmest way today: "For him."

"Great." Venus beamed at Tetra. "Oh, and do come back, darling. I enjoy your visits."

And with that final exchange of words, Tetra began conducting the Ballad of Gales. The first time she tried, though, she was very shaky (her fear of that mighty powerful tornado overtook her), but after concentrating harder, her second time was far more smooth, and the tornado was successfully summoned, sending her on her way back home.

Still at the fairy's fountain, though, Makar began approaching Venus, who seemed to be staring at the pond in a trance. He than asked what nobody thought he was to ask.

"Venus... how do you know so much? About all that you told her?"

"Oh?" Venus snapped out of her trance and looked over at where Makar stood, recognizing his presence. "Oh! Well, I get around, you know. I don't just stay here for eternity. I visit the spirits, the deities, the Goddesses. There are parties often as well. In fact, as sage, you can go there if you want. We could even bring that bird girl, Medli, with us."

"Oh, no. Not her." Makar said in an annoyed tone that was quite unlike him. "Whenever I have to meet with her, my hearing hurts. I mean, it almost always devolves to Komali this, and Komali that. You'd think after 50 reunions she'd get tired of it or run out of stuff to say, but noooo. I don't even know why she's sage. I've seen her predecessor, and they look nothing alike. I think they're not even blood related."

"Well... I'll fill you in on a secret." Venus said in a hushed voice, inching closer to Makar's side. "They're not. Truly. But the Goddesses needed one to fill the role, and she had the harp, so..."

Makar nodded slowly as he took in that revelation. Then, with his question answered, he wobbled with his signature jingling towards the trees to tend for them.

Venus then resumed her trance-like state of looking down at the pond and sighed deeply, downhearted. "Oh, Linky... I guess it really _was_ her, after all..."

**To Be Continued**


	11. A Connection to the Spirits

During the nighttime, under the moonlight, it is the one: REVIEW ANSWERIN' time!

(Allow me to take this moment to answer to some comments I somehow missed from chapter 9, followed by the ones from Chapter 10.)

Chap. 9:

Tetra: It's okay to cry. _I'm_ the writer and that scene alone took my nerves on a breakdown.

Inspiration of Imagination: Thank you for your kind words. I do strive to be better every day and maybe, just maybe, release an actual novel.

Trickster's Imagination: If you only knew how long I had the whole scene cooked up, complete with that one line (I had to have the perfect line for it, after all). That point was the reason I gave some focus to the whole Heart Container breaking in half or not bit.

Chap. 10:

lilgreefox: Well, to tell you the truth (but only to you, it is a secret to everybody), I kinda rushed chapter 9, the greater part of it written nonstop on Christmas eve. Now... you made me feel bad, thinking I made you feel bad about Link. Consider this chapter my apology cake. On the other part... Considering how my English vernacular is limited, I always try to make sure my wording is varied enough so I don't devolve into "he said-itis". Also, you're very lucky you mentioned Makar when you did. That chapter was the ONLY time I could've put him as I have the rest of the story planned. And about Medli... I'll admit that was my mouthpiece to the whole Zora-to-Rito evolution theory.

Inspiration of Imagination: No, no. Feel free to criticize when the need arrives. That's what the review function is for, and it helps me improve my way of writing. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far.

_The Legend of Zelda_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 11:

A Connection to the Spirits

Morning broke under a soft and steady rain, hampering but not stopping a certain pirate ship from sailing towards land and find an anchoring point. The crew inside the ship rushed all over the top deck, fighting the blinding rain to have everything prepared in a timely fashion. Atop the ship's bridge, a burly man dressed in a green shirt and a red handkerchief on his head bellowed orders while he steered the ship the right way. They were running against the unstopping tide of time, towards an uncertain goal, in an uncertain time and weather, and this was a battle they simply could not lose. When the man steering the ship ordered something, all available hands rushed over and made it happen.

Still, there was one room inside the ship that remained locked from the inside. It was the Captain's Quarters, and it was adorned with a sign that read: _Do Not Disturb_.

* * *

"I have really changed, haven't I?"

The desk inside the Captain's Quarters was a mess of papers and annotations. The Ancient Hyrulian Book lay open with obvious signs of being searched over, a stick stuck in the middle as a reminder of where was it was last perused. The torn pages, retrieved in previous missions, were bundled in a separate section closer to the chair, magnifying their importance. Scraps of paper, filled with explanations, summaries and simplifications of important matters to be digested in a short lapse of time, ran all around the desk and spilled to the floor. Charts and compasses filled up what little space remained in the desk... but as full as it was, it was still missing its most important piece: the captain.

Tetra stood only a few feet over from the desk, where she had a mirror mounted to the wall. She was just getting dressed in her usual attire, still missing her blue jacket and red cloths that normally went on her neck and her hips, when she took a good, prolonged look at her own figure in the reflection. She was definitely no longer the squat child of years before, with an overgrown head and as flat as an ironing board. She was a young woman. She had grown taller, her body had time to catch up with her head and her frame had become more curvy. She spent some time looking at the mirror, posing in various different ways to take in the full extent of her older self.

As she performed these poses, her mind wandered back to the Fairy Queen's conversation she had the day before. Among the throng of things she was told, she remembered being told that she had changed, and it was time to reflect that change. "Could this be what she meant? At least partway?" Tetra wondered. In that state of mind, she tried one last stance: she stood as straight as possible, trying to look as formal as possible, as royally worthy as possible. While it was hard enough to maintain such a pose with a straight face due to her current ragtag look, she managed to sustain it in a quite dignified manner.

That is, until someone knocked at her door.

"Excuse me, Ma'am." The voice of Nudge rang from the other side of the door (lucky for Tetra, as she deflated spectacularly from her puffed-up stance). "I thought you'd want to know that we're approaching land. Best get your gear ready."

"Oh! Okay!" Tetra said. She walked away from the mirror towards where the rest of her clothes lay. After dressing completely, she returned to the mirror to do her hair, And she considered briefly to just let it flow down for the day. She thought better of it, though, considering the possibilities of what they may encounter, and started rolling her hair in her usual bun.

* * *

"So... let me get this straight." Mako wondered as he and the rest of the pirate crew began walking down the rat holes that created a network of caverns underneath New Hyrule. "Link is NOT dead? And we're going over some invisible place to bring him back?"

"And here I thought you weren't as smart as you said you were." Nudge said with the brightest of smiles and fluttering his eyes oddly.

"Why, thanks. I..."

"I was being sarcastic..." Nudge interrupted Mako, annoyed. "... Idiot."

"What I mean to say is that I can't be the only one to see a logical fallacy here." Mako continued, choosing to ignore his partner's bad mouthing. "We all saw it, didn't we? Tell me how you can survive..."

"Mako..."

"... being crushed by two overgrown hands..."

"Makooooo..."

"... and buried alive in that shifting sand..."

"Maaaa- kooooo..."

"... That could easily get in your lungs and..."

"MAKO!!!!" The name echoed all through the caverns, making the small convoy stop in their tracks and become silent. From the front of the group, two flaming eyes were staring directly at the four-eyed pirate, attached to the furious, fuming form of Tetra who was holding the Goddesses' Compass in one hand and had the other turned to a fist.

"I tried to warn you, man." Senza whispered to Mako. "Three times, as a matter of fact."

Tetra stomped over to where the offending party stood. "Mako..." Tetra spoke, making it a point to stare at him eye-to-shuddering eye. "Two words: Shut... up." And with no further words, Tetra returned to the front of the pack and resumed walking.

For a good moment, everything was incredibly quiet. Only the squishing of the dirt under the pirates' soles could be heard in them. Tetra walked ahead of the bunch, looking intently at the Goddesses' Compass and willing it to guide them to the place that connects with the Spirit Realm, while Mako slowly let the rest of his comrades go ahead of him. The caverns were dank and dark, but enough light filtered in to allow them to walk on without resorting to their lamps. For that moment, all was peaceful... but then...

"but if I may..."

"G-ARGH!" Tetra's furious yell came as a fair warning for those in between her and Mako, who quickly made to hug the walls in the small corridor, and not a moment too soon, as their captain turned around and blasted off towards the quivering pirate on the back.

"Let it be known..." Senza said as he witnessed the punishment happening in front of him. "... that he was properly warned."

"Aye." Zuko answered.

* * *

"Gonzo?"

"Yes, Miss... eh... Ma'am?" Gonzo answered, stumbling over his own carefully picked words.

Tetra sighed in exasperation, trying to understand what was happening. "Why are you calling me Ma'am? It makes me feel old."

"Sorry, Mi... eh... Captain." Gonzo apologized. "I just thought I could show some more respect, since you've come to grips..."

"Captain?" Tetra interrupted, catching Gonzo's wordplay. "Gonzo... are you... rather, are all of you trying not to say my name?" She then took a good look at her underlings, who all looked at her uneasy and nodded lightly once (Even Mako, as bound and gagged as he was). "What's going on? Since when has my name been taboo?"

"Well... I guess I should explain." Gonzo spoke out. "Since you're trying to come to grips with your princess side, we thought we could help as well. So we were taking it easy and started by simply calling you Ma'am or captain, then we would progress to something more as we got the hang of it."

Tetra mused over it for a short while before shaking her head energetically and raising her hands in protest. "No. Don't. It's way too confusing. You can just call me Tetra for now, ok?"

"Aye, aye, Cap..." Gonzo stopped just in time to see Tetra staring at him narrow-eyed. "Eh... Miss Tetra."

"Right then." Tetra said, resuming the walk. "Now, are there any more inane things planned for the trip?"

"Nope." Senza said calmly. "The author has pretty much run out of ideas for this segment."

"The who now?" Tetra asked, looking at Senza with a mixture of curiosity and bewilderment.

"Eh..." Senza looked like a fattened pig looks being just presented to the machete. "We'll be good."

* * *

The group of pirates finally found their way out of the rat holes, ending up in a field close to some rather steep rocky hills. Waarheid lay to the south, it's outer walls extending as far left and as far right as the eye could see. The pirates were feeling a tad uneasy to see the magnitude of such grandiose construction, but could at least find solace in the fact that they were far away from it. To the west lay the Ancient Castle, with its faded colors looking so out of place in an otherwise colorful environment, and to the east was an incredibly tall doorway of green hues so securely closed it seemed impossible for them to pass through, even if they tried a thousand years.

"So, riddle me this:" Nudge wondered, looking up so much he almost feel back on his butt just trying to see the top of the doorway. "Do we push or pull? Or should we simply knock?"

"And from which side?" Niko commented, having ran all the way to the doorway. "Look! I can just go around the doorway all I want." And he did just so, proving just what Venus had said before, that the doorways seemingly led nowhere. "What do you make of this?"

"Maybe..." Gonzo mused for a moment as he witnessed Niko running tirelessly around the large doorway. "Maybe it's a portal, and when it opens, it will transport us to another dimension."

"Maybe there's something in that castle." Senza suggested, pointing to the old forgotten castle.

"No..." Zuko spoke. "Cursed... ancient wizard magic..."

Senza blinked twice while staying in place. "...So?"

"Guys..." Tetra addressed the lot without a hint of anger or stress in her voice. "Relax. If all goes well, we'll enter the hidden place in no time."

The pirates turned around to see Tetra slowly walking over to the impressively large structure, looking at it intently while clasping her hands together in front of her mouth, as if in prayer. Then, she mouthed some words, spoken so softly they were incomprehensible to any of the other pirates. Tetra took a few deep breaths and walked to the large doors, stretching her arms forward to touch them. "I beseech you, Light Force, mystical power of the Princess of Hyrule. Come forth." She pressed her hands on the doors, expecting the same glow she had experienced before... but nothing happened. The pirates looked at each other, exchanging confused expressions, probably silently asking what was supposed to happen now. "Pleeeeease..." Tetra pleaded, trying to reach deep inside and invoke her dormant power.

Then, it happened. A soft, bright glow enveloped not only Tetra, but also the entirety of the doorway, stunning the pirates in a slack-jawed, wide-eyed amazement. A loud creaking noise followed by loads of dust raining down from the unused doors signaled the long awaited opening, giving Tetra just enough notice to step back as the doors started opening towards her. ("Oh, so we pull." Nudge commented.) From Niko's energetic view, it was the oddest of sights: looking through the side opposite Tetra's, it was the same as before, with Tetra and the pirates looking in wonderment at something, and the outer walls of Waarheid providing the background; turning around to where Tetra was, however, provided a completely different vision from the usual rocky hills: it was a polished way leading into a magnificently intricate tower, filled with layers upon layers of design worthy of admiration, only marred by its faded colors.

"Is... is this real?" Niko asked, shifting his gaze between Tetra, the male pirates and the doorway.

"I guess there's only one way to find out." Tetra answered, still trying to snap out of her amazement. "Gentlemen... we walk on." Thus, the pirate crew picked up their supplies and drew close to each other as to avoid getting lost in case some sort of weird transition occurred when they walked through. As they passed, though, the transition was totally harmless, and it felt like they did not do nothing except walk a few feet forward. However, the tower now looked far more lush and colorful than it did just a while ago. They were slowly making their way to the tower when, halfway there, the doorway emitted a loud creaking noise. The pirates wondered why the door was closing, considering how they could just walk around it, but as the doors closed more and more, the backdrop behind them started blurring to the point that it became an indescribable swirl of colors.

"Yep." Gonzo said. "We're screwed."

"On the contrary." Tetra rebutted. "This merely means that there's no way to go but forward."

"ONWARD, MEN!" Niko yelled out, to which he earned the annoyed looks of his comrades. "Eh... that was _your_ line, wasn't it, Captain?"

So, with no other way to go, the group of seven walked their way through the abnormally large entrance to the tower. Once inside, the flabbergasted group gazed upon the large room, whose interior matched the grandiose design of the tower's exterior with intricate landscapes etched into the walls and several portraits hung around, and was illuminated by enchanted lamps hanging from the high ceiling. There were four more exits additional to the one they entered from, three as large as the first, and a smaller one that led upstairs. The most striking and puzzling part of the room, however, was a strange stone statue of a long 2-piece object that none of the pirates could decipher its meaning.

"Is it... mobile?" Mako asked, pointing out the round wheel-like parts on the bottom.

"Maybe people could get in..." Senza pondered, looking at the more boxy part of the sculpture.

"It's... It's... What is it?" Niko wondered, looking completely lost.

"What this is..." An elderly female voice rang from behind the stone structure, startling the pirate crew and making them search where the voice had come from. Then, with a quiet chugging sound, an old, short woman with purple hair done in a bun that rivaled Tetra's apparently sitting in some sort of self-propelled carriage appeared from behind the structure and approached them. "... is none of your concern. At least not at this moment."

"Who are you?" Tetra braved to ask.

"I believe that since you're the ones who entered this sanctuary..." The old woman retorted, making Tetra step back and feel uneasy. "... I should be the one asking the question. But regardless, I guess it will not matter in the long run." The old lady then cleared her throat and set a hand on her chest area. "I am Anjean, and I watch over the Tower of Spirits."

"Anjean..." Tetra repeated, feeling it was important to not forget her name.

"And what do I owe this unexpected visit, Miss..." Anjean said, pointing over to Tetra and waiting for her to introduce herself.

"Oh! I'm Tet... uh..." Tetra stopped mid-sentence. She knew she had to embrace her royal heritage, and presenting herself as Captain Tetra of the Great Sea Pirates would derail her progress. Now she knew how her crew felt about it. Thus, she cleared her throat and started again, pulling a more subdued tone."I am the heir of the Throne of Hyrule, called forth by the Goddesses to rebuild the kingdom, and carrier of the Light Force, proof of my royal heritage." Tetra breathed deeply. She could not believe what she was about to say. "I... am Princess Zelda."

Anjean, choosing to ignore the distracting muttering of the guys behind Tetra, began eying the so-called 'princess' in front of her quite deeply. "You don't look so much like a princess to me." she said plainly. "More like a pirate, perhaps. Here's a hint: if you claim to be a princess, the clothes help sell the idea."

"Wha...? Wait... I'm just new at this!" Tetra attempted to explain.

"New?" Anjean asked. There was an indescribable tone about her voice, almost as if playful. "Princesses can be new at it when they're two years old. You're a young lady, Miss Zelda, and should know better, unless this is all a hoax."

Tetra sighed deeply. This was not going as planned. As much as she tried to think other ways of explaining, her mind was simply not up to it. Finally, she simply decided to drop her dainty tone and speak normally. "Listen, Anjean. I've been living in the high seas all my life, and it's only been recently that the Goddesses seemed fit to tell me that I had to rebuild Hyrule now, since the old kingdom is now a ruin under the sea, and I should finally come to grips with my past to make this work, only I hated this whole princessy thing and tried doing things my way until something happened that made me rethink my ways and pushed me to do things like a princess. So, yeah, I've had almost zero prep time to get here and do things the right way, but yes, I _am_ the Princess of Hyrule. You want proof? I can show you the compass the Goddesses themselves gave me. I can show you the book of Hyrule's history which explains the whole thing. And what more proof than the fact that we're here, and I'm talking to you when this tower is supposed to be invisible and impenetrable to everyone? I opened that door back there, if you hadn't noticed. So I may not look it, I may not project it, But I am Princess Zelda."

Anjean sat slack-jawed for a brief moment after witnessing the young lady in front of her transform from an apparently frail girl to a more determined character sure of herself. After the initial shock, however, she let out a hearty laugh. "My, my... talk about feisty." Anjean said, taking Tetra by surprise. "And smart, too, to consider the door as proof. Yes, I noticed it, and I also sensed your intentions to be nothing but noble, which is why I didn't stop you from entering. Yeah, you don't look the part, but you certainly proved yourself enough. I guess I can trust in you, Princess." She then raised her gaze straight to Tetra's, giving her a wide smile, to which Tetra responded in kind. "Besides, how can I mistrust someone with such a great taste in hairstyles?" Anjean added with a laugh. "So, I assume these gentlemen are your royal guard, right?"

"Actually, we're the Pi... OW!"

"We have a sworn duty..." Gonzo said after kicking Niko before he could utter much. "... to help and protect the princess with our lives." He finished with a rather enthusiastic military-ish salute, followed instinctively by the rest of the crew.

Tetra couldn't help but laugh at Gonzo's hammy performance. "They're my crew. In reality, I'm still their captain, and we're still a band of pirates, but as soon as we're done with this final quest, it's quittin' time."

"Pirates?" Anjean repeated. "Well, no wonder."

"But I swear I've told you the truth." Tetra was quick to fix anything that might have been misunderstood.

"Now, dear, didn't I tell you?" Anjean reminded her. "You needn't worry about me. I know your intentions are sincere. Which reminds me, you never trally answered me. What exactly do you seek coming into the Tower of Spirits?"

Tetra's face turned serious. This was a matter she had spoken before already, so she was accustomed to it, but she was not about to treat it any less seriously than it deserved. "There is a friend of mine who was unjustly captured by two unsightly creatures. I believe my friend was taken to the Spirit Realm alive, and if I don't hurry to his aid, it could be too late. Now, I was told this tower connects to the Spirit Realm and I was hoping you could help me in that part."

Anjean looked deeply into Tetra's eyes as she spoke and even some time after. She then crossed her arms and nodded in understanding. "I see much determination in your eyes. That is a very important trait. But there is something else there, some conflicting emotions are at work within yourself. I will not speak them unless you wish to divulge them, but know that these emotions could lead to either the greatest triumph ever, or the biggest mistake in your life. Personally, I think approaching the Spirit Realm to attempt and retrieve your friend with such mixed feelings is a risky gamble, to say the least." Anjean then turned around and slowly started to move away the same way she came from.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no!" Tetra denounced, making her way ahead of Anjean and stopping her progress Her face had transformed from determined to clear-cut angered. "I did not come here just to be shown the door back out. I will not leave this tower until I make contact with the Spirit Realm and rescue my lost friend. What's a few mixed emotions? I could just control them for a few moments and nothing wrong will happen. Or is it that you don't trust me? Were you just playing with me then? Because in case you hadn't noticed, I _have_ to do this, and even if you don't show me the way, I'll search high and low until I finish what I came here to do."

Anjean sat slack-jawed, witnessing how Tetra seemed more and more angry. Then, she let out a troubled sigh. "You do understand, child..." She began. "... that if for some reason you lose control over whatever situation you encounter at the Spirit Realm, you risk being stuck inside, alongside your friend. Would you risk that?"

Tetra's gaze turned sideways briefly, deep in thought. It didn't take long for Anjean to see just how frightfully determined the young lady in front of her was. "If it has to come to it..."

"So headstrong..." Anjean muttered while shaking her head slightly. "All right. If that is your wish, then I will help you." She then turned to the smaller exit that went upstairs and started to shout. "Byrne! Byrne, come on down. I need you down here."

From the entrance, a large muscular man whose build rivaled Gonzo and Senza descended. His skin was pale, his eyes were a strikingly profound yellow, and his blue hair was done in a thin ponytail. He was dressed in brown garbs and pieces of armor, and most of his face was covered in a blue cloth. But his most striking point was a large, mechanical claw where his right arm should have been.

"Byrne is my understudy." Anjean explained. "He wishes to serve the spirits as I do, and he's pretty quick to learn as well. He will help you reach the place that connects to the Spirit Realm here."

"Do you think it... wise, Anjean?" Byrne questioned, taking a glance at the ragtag crew in front of him.

"Don't you worry about that, Byrne. I trust them." Anjean reiterated. "Now if you'd please be so kind as to show them the way."

"Hmph... Very well." Byrne agreed, though with some reservations still in his head.

"All right!" Tetra exclaimed, making her way to the doorway that led upstairs. "Let's get going then... WHOA!"

"It's not that way." Byrne corrected Tetra while grabbing her by the neck collar with his left hand.

"I have got to do something about that neck collar..." Tetra muttered before getting back up on her feet and facing the stoic understudy. "So which way, then?"

"Follow me." Byrne said while walking towards the back of the stone structure. On its backside there was a door that was the same material as the rest of the structure, but as soon as he touched it with his claw, the door turned to wood and he opened it with no trouble. "Everybody in."

"Child..."Anjean called Tetra just before she boarded the strange compartment. On her hand she held a beautifully crafted pan flute, each pipe color coded for convenience, which she was thrusting in the pirate leader's hands. "I think you may need this. This is the Spirit Flute. If you play this flute, you will be able to find protection within the Spirit Realm. Use it wisely, for I'd be much to worried about you otherwise."

Tetra looked at the Spirit Flute apprehensively, then looked straight towards Anjean. "But... what am I supposed to play with this?"

Anjean looked intently at Tetra as the young lady was hoisted up to the compartment by her crew. Finally, at the last moment, she approached them and gave a playful wink. "The flute will tell you."

"Wait! That's my..." Before she could finish, Tetra was cut short by Byrne slamming the door shut. From Anjean's point of view, the wooden door transformed back to stone, matching the rest of the stone architecture.

"I will pray for you, child."

* * *

The inside of the compartment was a complete contrast to its outside: it was entirely composed of finely polished wood, its windows adorned with fine silk curtains, and it housed a couple of rows of comfy red chairs, which the crew was all too happy to use to relax. Tetra, however, chose to remain standing close to the door, opposite Byrne, who guarded the door, his claw firmly in the doorknob. This made for an extremely awkward moment in which Byrne sighed and grunted occasionally, and Tetra fidgeted with the Spirit Flute attempting to look calm.

"So..." Tetra spoke, trying to spark up nonchalant conversation, though her voice tones betrayed her. "What IS in the upper floors of the tower?"

"What this tower contains..." Byrne answered, calm as ever. "... and what this tower represents, is a story for another time."

"Ooh! Stories!" Niko sprang from his comfy chair and faced the yellow-eyed man. "I love stories. Maybe you can tell me the story some other time."

Byrne looked at Niko and his silly smile plastered on his face, and sighed lightly. "... Maybe." It was all he said in the matter.

"So what are we supposed to be doing now, Byrne?" Senza asked, curious as to why they needed to be in this smallish room.

"We are traveling." Byrne answered. "Deep beneath the Tower of Spirits exists a dimensional rift where one may enter the Spirit Realm. This compartment is the only way there, which is why I am holding the door shut. We wouldn't want anyone to fall away to the abyss before we get there, right?" He finished while his gaze began to focus at Gonzo, who also stared at him with a none-too-friendly look.

"So I'm to assume we'll be in a completely different place when the door is opened again?" Mako wondered.

"Place?" Nudge spat at Mako. "Try dimension! We'll be where the spirits live. Where the dead find their final rest. Davy frickin' Jones' locker! If we get outta there alive, we'll be legendary among sailors!" Nudge took a moment to understand what all that meant. The chill that went up his spine was very understandable. "Boy, the mere thought of it is terrifying, isn't it."

"Well... We're here already..." Zuko commented. "Can't turn back now..."

The rest of the voyage was spent in silence. Each of the pirates were deep in thought, considering what did entering the sacred sanctum of the spirits entail, and what would they have to do should anything unfavorable happened. Tetra shifted between sitting in the chair closest to the door and standing up, shifting her eyes between the enigmatic Byrne, the mystical Spirit Flute (its worth had yet to be proven), and each of her comrades with a mixed feeling of regret and gratitude: regret for having dragged them with her in such a delicate situation; gratitude for having stuck by her through this difficult situation, going so far as to deliver cheesy loyalty-laden lines and not accepting staying behind when she had initially proposed coming alone. Inside her mind, she was starting to imagine what would happen after this whole thing was over, after she had assumed Hyrule's throne, and she gives up her life on the sea. What will they do?

Her line of thought was soon broken, though, when at the corner of her eye she noticed Byrne turning his head upwards, then looking around strangely. "It looks like we've arrived." He finally said. "I forewarn you that you are here under special circumstances, and you may not comprehend or withstand what may happen in there. I suggest that those who do not wish to risk losing themselves stay in the compartment. This is your final warning."

The seven pirates stood up and began looking at each other slowly. From their individual looks, a sense of dread and worry had settled inside them, making them second-guess their intentions and feeling like they had a foot at death's door already. As they kept looking around, though, something else emerged from them: a sense of camaraderie, of fortitude in teamwork, a feeling that everyone was each other's crutch and despite each individual fear, being together overcame any such fear. Then, the lot turned to Byrne, their faces slowly transforming to a determined state. Tetra stepped forward and simply declared. "We'll all go."

"Very well. Prepare yourselves." Byrne said, and began turning the doorknob. When he opened the door, a blinding white light washed into the compartment, making everybody except Byrne cover their eyes to try and see what was beyond the door. As their eyes settled to the light, the pirates were finally able to bask on copious amounts of... nothingness. Beyond the door was a vast amount of white. There wasn't even a clear indication of where the floor was, or if there was a ceiling or walls. The only thing that resembled a solid object was a dark rectangular object somewhere far away. "You will need to walk all the way to those doors."Byrne explained, pointing to the rectangular object in the distance. "Past them you will be able to find that which you seek. Since you're many, I suggest the one who is to make the claim to enter first, followed by the rest."

Tetra decided to be the first to jump off the compartment. As it turned out, the floor outside wasn't too far down. She even thought the fall was about the same as the one in the Tower of Spirits. When she turned around she saw the compartment, but only the compartment part of the mysterious object, and its construction now matched its interior, in finely polished wood and high in colors. She motioned for her crew to follow her outside, and the pirates grabbed their supplies and jumped off as well. "I shall await for your return here. Now go." Byrne said before closing the compartment door and leaving them outside.

"Why do I feel we're sticking ourselves deeper and deeper in quicksand?" Nudge commented, his worries starting to take over him as he surveyed the stark environment.

"Buck up, Nudge." Mako reassured his comrade. "We're only a room away from finishing here. Besides, you're with us. We have each other's backs."

"Right." Nudge said, feeling a bit more confident after his partner's words. "So now all we have left to do is walk forward."

The pirate crew walked forward, making it a point to walk in a straight line as much as possible while keeping the faraway door on their sights. While the compartment in which they had arrived to that realm was moving farther away, the rectangular door made no visible strides towards them. As they walked on, an odd mist that blended with the environment started to settle in, and a creepy ethereal chanting echoed faintly across the area, making the group look around for the source of the voices, half-knowing they would find none. They continued walking, trying to ignore the calls and the chants, sometimes of deep masculine voices, other times from high-pitched feminine voices, who would easily confuse them and steer them wrong. When desperation looked like it would settle in place of determination, the dark rectangular door began looking larger and larger, proving that they were indeed making progress towards it. Tetra began doubling her efforts to reach the door, and the rest of the pirates did not dawdle for long and picked up the slack, going right behind her. Finally, the crew stood in front of a large door that had several carvings that one would only assume were the defining marks of the Spirit Realm.

"Well, this is it." Tetra spoke. "I'll enter first. Don't enter until I am fully inside." Tetra made for the door handle, but as her hand drew closer to the handle, her nerves began to rattle more and more, her stomach began feeling empty and queasy, her breathing shallowed and her vision blurred slightly. Her nerves were not letting her pull on the door, and she resorted to leaning on the door and close her eyes to try and control herself. No sooner did she do that, that images of Link started bombarding her mind. She hated to admit it, but even now, at the proverbial gates of redemption, the mere thought of Link gave her a sharp pang of pain in her heart, as her guilt still haunted her. This very thing, however, gave her the drive to get all the way to where she was, and was now working to give her the strength to open that door. She took a step back and pulled on the door, which opened rather smoothly, allowing easy entry to the room inside.

As Tetra entered the room, followed closely by the pirates, she couldn't help but marvel at the design of it. It was someplace she had never seen before: the room was modestly sized compared to the abnormally large place before, and had a defined floor and walls. Its floor was a lush mixture of white and gray, giving it the impression of stepping on snow. The walls and ceiling looked like they were made of a reflective crystal, and it was designed to look as if one were looking at the night sky, with a predominantly black background and a lot of blue stars which, thanks in part to the reflective surface, looked like they were infinite in number and depth.

When the last of the pirates made their way in, the door closed in behind them with a loud slam. "Deeper and deeper in quicksand..." Nudge repeated, feeling uneasy again.

"I can kinda see what you mean." Senza responded, feeling that uneasy feeling as well.

"Now, guys." Gonzo spoke energetically. "There is no reason to panic. We're all perfectly okay."

"Eh... Gonzo?" Niko addressed his superior, his voice trembling. "Can I panic now?"

Gonzo looked at Niko... and it was as if he was looking at a ghost. Niko looked pale and the black and blue crystalline wall could be seen right through his large head. Instinctively, he looked at his own hands, and it was just as he feared: He was turning transparent, just like Niko. All the other pirates' story was the same: their color was fading, and their body was becoming see-through. Everybody was shrieking in panic, some rushing to the door to try and open it, but it would just not budge, no matter how hard they tried.

"Oh, no!"

"We're done for!"

"What can we do?"

"Hey! What's going on with us!" Tetra yelled at the ceiling, hoping there was some sort of response from whoever was in charge there.

"You who have breached this private sanctum." A distorted, multi-pitched voice boomed from practically everywhere, assaulting the ears of the crew with its dissonant note. "You chose to descend to the place where the spirits dwell. Now you will join them."

"No!" Niko shrieked. "I'm too young to be spirited away!"

"Wait! I've yet to finish my compendium!" Mako screamed while trying to make the door open.

"This is the end!" Nudge wailed. "This is the final!"

"Oh, no! I'm not going to become a spirit anytime soon!" Tetra bellowed, and attempted to summon the power of the Light Force to counteract the mysterious vanishing. It was to no avail, for as hard as she tried to concentrate on her inner power, she kept slowly vanishing.

"Your earthen abilities will not avail you here. Only the Spirit's power works here." The voice announced.

Tetra's eyes widened as her mind raced with ideas. The Spirit's power, she thought. There was something within her items that could lend her the Spirit's power, and oddly enough, she only got it a few moments ago. She pulled out the Spirit Flute, which was the only thing within everything that was brought inside that was not fading away, and looked at it intently. Anjean had told her that the flute would tell her what to play when the time came, but she just could not understand how the flute could help her. Then, something struck her as odd about its design. On one side, there were some splotches of paint colored like the pipes of the pan flute. They were colored purple, yellow, red, purple, yellow, red, purple yellow, red, blue, red, in that order. "So that was what Anjean meant." Tetra said, almost laughing at the sly way of hiding the clue. Without waiting a moment, she breathed in deeply and began playing the song as shown in the flute's side. The tune was mildly sad, and evoked a strangely nostalgic vibe. The melody was creating the desired effect, however, and Tetra's vanishing was slowly being reverted, up until she was completely solid again.

"Yeah!" Tetra exclaimed in success. "Thank you, Anjean. Come on guys..." She then turned to her crew, but noticed that they were not quite as solid as she was. While their vanishing had halted, they had not regained a totally solid body yet. "Guys? What... Why are you still see-through?"

Gonzo made to talk, but even though his mouth moved, no audible words came out. While he spoke inaudibly, Tetra made a face of utter confusion, wondering if they were playing a joke on her.

"What are you playing at? Speak up." Tetra said, getting annoyed.

Gonzo looked confused, but tried speaking louder, almost to the point of shouting, as the pirates close to him proved by clasping their ears shut. Still, Tetra didn't hear a sound, and she made it known by shrugging her shoulders and pointing at her ears. The pirates began speaking amongst themselves, apparently still able to hear each other, and after a short while Gonzo faced Tetra and held a half-vanished scrap of paper in front of her.

"'You'll have to go on without us?'" Tetra read. "What do you mean, go on without you." Gonzo then pointed to another part of the message. "'We'll be of no help as we are now. Please understand.' No, I don't understand, now come here and..." Tetra's words got stuck in her throat as soon as her hand went through Gonzo's arm as if she were trying to grasp air. Her eyes widened and she remained slack-jawed and stupefied over what just happened. The pirates were completely surprised as well, to the point that Mako tried grabbing the pirate leader on his own, only to have his arms go right through her. Tetra looked fearfully at her crew, as though incapable of bearing another loss right now. To this, Gonzo lowered his head solemnly and wrote on the other side of the paper and showed it to Tetra. "'Don't worry. We're still with you.'" If anything, Tetra took a small solace in those words, and smiled at her crew. "To think the kind of crew I got stuck with..."

Suddenly, Niko's face transformed into one of true surprise and amazement, and began pointing to a point somewhere behind Tetra. When Tetra turned around, she saw a white and puffy circular vortex appearing from the room's wall. "You who have been resourceful enough to sustain your physical form within the Realm of the Spirits." The dissonant voice echoed around again. "What do you seek coming all the way here?"

Tetra saw this as her opportunity and faced the vortex (as it was the only visible manifestation of anything besides the pirates in that room) and spoke in a determined, commanding voice. "I have come here to reclaim one who was unjustly brought to this realm. By my power and authority as princess of Hyrule and heir to the throne, I demand that Link, Hero of Winds, be released from the Spirit Realm to return to the land of the living."

Tetra herself could not believe she was commanding the very spirits as if she had done this before. Behind her, her crew was clapping and giving her thumbs up for her thoroughly convincing performance.

"Thus you ask, and thus you shall receive, o Princess of Hyrule." The voice boomed on the room. "Link, Hero of Winds, your imprisonment will end here."

Then, almost immediately, the vortex started emitting a white mist, which was very quickly swirling up in a small cone. From inside the mist cone, a figure started to take shape and form a humanoid silhouette. When the mist started clearing, Link's body was hanging in midair, completely devoid of color, his head hanging down with closed eyes, and his sword unsheathed and held in his right hand. Slowly, the body lowered until he was left standing in an odd trance-like state, unmoving and unresponsive of anything.

"L... Link?" Tetra called with the weakest whisper she had spoken. She was nervous to even approach him, and she was very slowly raising her arm to try and grab his. "Link? Are you...?"

Behind her, though, Niko had exploded in a frenetic shouting and flailing, hoping to somehow break the mysterious spell and have his captain hear him. When the other pirates wondered what was wrong with him, he pointed frenetically at Link and told them what he found wrong. Then, the whole lot of the pirates was frenetically trying to get her attention. They were unsuccessful, however, as Tetra's gaze was locked on Link's uncolored figure. Niko decided then to make good use of his ability to pass through the more solid objects and rushed to get in between the two.

It was too late.

It happened in a split second. Link's left hand twitched rapidly and moved to grab Tetra's raising arm. His head tilted up and began transforming from the sleepy trance-like state to an impossibly wide, ear-to-ear smile and he finally opened his eyelids, showing that there was absolutely nothing inside the sockets. His normally colorless body was slowly transforming darker and darker, until he turned a deep, dark purple tone, and the vortex he had come from turned from its innocent white to a horrific blood red and pitch black. Tetra's face transformed into a dreadful, horror-stricken face, as she felt like she could faint from seeing who she thought was Link transform into a demonic, scary and potentially dangerous version of him. Tetra saw it and she could not believe it: Her nightmarish recurring dream had finally fulfilled itself completely.

Before Tetra could even try speaking, The dark mirror of Link readied his sword and made to stab Tetra. The pirate leader instinctively saw this and defended herself by kicking up and stepping all over the dark Link's face, stunting him long enough to loosen from his grip and distancing herself enough to reach for her sabre and assume a fighting position. When the dark Link shook off the attach, he raised his sword and rushed over to where Tetra was. Tetra was ready, however, and blocked the dark mirror's advance with her own sabre. The two were locked in a steel-cringing, strength-testing moment in which Tetra, while trying to concentrate on the fight, could not help but try and seek if there was some of the real Link within that dark shell and attempt to reach out to him, but no matter how hard she looked, Dark Link's terrifying face remained unchanging, his eye sockets completely vacant and his smile a dangerous reminder of how much he would enjoy getting an opening and slice her up good.

Dark Link looked like he was winning the strength test and he was making Tetra lower down to the floor, when suddenly, Tetra dropped completely on her back and once again used her feet in her favor to throw Dark Link up to the air and make him fall with a loud thud in the ground. Tetra was poised to take advantage of this and held her sabre ready to slash the demonic copy... when she stopped, her entire drive to fight drained from her. For the briefest of times, Tetra could've sworn she saw Link's tender green eyes looking back at her. The band of pirates, now a silent witness to the duel happening in front of them, tried to get their leader's attention so she were not distracted by any illusions, but it was completely hopeless without any real way to interact with her. When Tetra saw Link's eyes disappear in the blink of an eye, she snapped back to the problem at hand one second too late. Dark Link swung his sword forward, aiming for Tetra's heart, and while the blond girl was quick enough to avoid the deadly blow, the sword managed to catch her right arm and give her a nasty gash that went from her elbow to her wrist.

Tetra shrieked in a horrific, agonizing cry of pain. She felt as though her arm was about to fall off her body in a bloody mess. Her arms and her chest were becoming soaked in her own blood as she tried to find the best way to tighten and close the wound that was invading every part of her being and gave her little space to think outside of how much pain she was in right now. From the corner of her eye, she could spy Dark Link relishing on the moment, as if there wasn't a single good cell in that body. "Link... why?" Tetra whispered, her mind still willing to believe that the real Link was somewhere inside that body, just waiting to be freed. "Link, it's me." She pleaded, her self torn between her increasing heartache and her throbbing physical pain, leading her to the point of despair and tears. "Don't... please. It's me, Tetra. You know me."

Then, she heard an almost inaudible, yet clearly unsettling chuckling sound.

It was as though that one simple sound awakened something inside her. What she was looking at, what she was fighting, what was looking at her with a vacant stare that defined its pure contempt and disregard for life... whatever that dark purple creature looked like or fought like, one thing became clear in Tetra's mind: that was NOT Link!

Despite the throbbing pain, Tetra managed to pull a somersault backwards and land on her feet, taking Dark Link by surprise and kicking itself for such an oversight in its gloating. Tetra took this short break to untie her red cloth from her hip area and, using her teeth as support, tightly tie up the wound in her right arm. She then rushed over to where her sabre lay and picked it up with her left hand. She was not as skilled with her left hand as she was with her right one, but she could still defend herself, and in her current state of mind, she felt they needed a good number of fake Links to bring her down.

Dark Link wasted no time to strike first, trying to reach the wounded arm first. Tetra, however, had a new mindset and was not giving the mirrored copy any quarter. For every blow that Dark Link attempted, Tetra was ready with a block and a counterattack. If it weren't for the fact that Tetra was forced to use her left arm in combat, she could probably be having the upper hand right now.

"Where is Link!?" Tetra shouted at the dark copy in front of her. Dark Link merely shrugged and taunted her with its wide smile and waving eyebrows. "Oh, no. You're not Link! WHERE IS HE!?!?!?"

As the battle progressed, Tetra's determination fueled her drive in battle further and further, while Dark Link's moves became more and more erratic, in an attempt to take the skilled fighter fumble. Amazingly, Dark Link's usual wide smile started to diminish, and a worried look began to adorn his features. For the first time, Tetra was truly on top of the fight, and she knew full well that she could not slow down her pace if she wanted to win this battle to the death. She began to spice up her fighting style and threw out a couple of high kicks right on Dark Link's face, making the dark mirror image stumble for a while and gave Tetra plenty open space to return the favor for the gash at her arm.

Dark Link gave out an otherworldly shriek in pain as Tetra caught the side of its stomach area. Instead of red blood, however, a dark mist wheezed out of the gash and disappeared into thin air. Tetra thought of pulling the finishing touch, but Dark Link drew up his sword and blocked the deathly blow just in time. It stabilized itself on its feet and wearily held the sword with both hands, its dark, empty-eyed face filled with a mixture of fear and anger. Tetra dashed over to Dark Link with her sabre ready to attack, but Dark Link quickly pulled a move that penetrated Tetra's defenses and made to stab her straight through the nose. However, Tetra had anticipated this, skidding on her knees at the last moment and bending back to avoid the sharp blade by mere inches. In a wild surge of strategy, Tetra dropped her sabre and launched an uppercut right at Dark Link's chin, making its head swing back violently and making it lose its balance and fall on its back. Tetra then quickly grabbed her sabre, and jumped straight towards where the dark mirror image of Link lay.

It did not emit a single shriek of pain as Tetra's sabre skewered it through the chest. Instead, Dark Link's face contorted in various different forms, all without giving out more than a simple set of grunts. In the end, though, it looked straight at Tetra with those empty eye sockets and gave her a final, albeit weak, smile. Immediately after, Dark Link's body disintegrated into a dark purple mist that floated up in the air as it slowly dissipated into nothingness. And the vortex that had summoned the demon also disappeared, not even bothering to turn back to white before leaving the pirate leader's sight.

Tetra only took a small moment to rest and recover before her mind went back to why she was there. She raised her head to the ceiling, but before she could speak a word, the wall in front of her issued another vortex, this time a light-blue color matching the stars in the walls. Everybody kept a close attention to this vortex, since while it didn't look sinister like the previous one, they couldn't possibly lower their defense now. This time, however, they heard footsteps approaching, coming clearly from the other side of the vortex. Before long, the silhouette of Link could be seen from within the bright blue vortex. As the figure got closer, Tetra started to see some undeniable features: His skin had a healthy color, his tunic and cape were of a deep forest green, his green eyes were looking back at her with an unmistakable, genuine kindness and gratitude, and his smile, though not an ear-to-ear smile, was sincere and true. The biggest proof, though, was that his right arm was bare, as his sleeve was ripped away since the incident at the Garo Caverns.

Tetra tried, she really did, but every time she opened her mouth, she choked badly and couldn't emit much more and a meek sound. Link stepped forward and shrugged apologetically, almost as if apologizing for making her worry so much. At that moment, Tetra broke down, throwing herself in Link's arms and embracing him tightly like it would be the last time they would be able to see each other. Link returned the embrace, holding her as tightly as she did and caressing her head softly.

"_You... You're here at last."_

Tears were running unchecked all across Tetra's cheeks, but for the first time, she let them roll away.

"_You've kept me waiting for so long."_

Tetra's emotions were so strong, she shifted uncontrollably between laughter and sobs.

"_Now, we're finally... we're finally..."_

She passed her fingers through Link's golden locks. This was real. He was there. Link was back. Nothing else mattered. Not the wound, nor the place, nor the fact that they had company.

"_We're finally together."_

"Hold her tight, friend." Senza said, beaming the whole way through. "Miracles are fleeting."

"So, what are you thinking now?" Nudge asked the burly, bearded pirate.

"I'm thinking... that I've never seen stars this close before." Senza answered while shifting his gaze at the beautiful crystalline wall. It may have been his imagination, but at that moment, the stars on the walls looked like they were dancing around joyfully. "Thought they'd be whiter."

"_We're together. As it should be."_

* * *

"Niko, Zuko, secure the sails! Senza, man the wheel! Mako, I wanna see some coordinates!"

The pirates were scrambling all across the ship. They had the need to sail for high seas immediately, and Tetra's ordering behavior was a clear indication of that. The leader of the pirates took a good look around, taking into account what needed to be done, and quickly ordering someone to do the job.

"Well..." Nudge said in between taking breaths, "at least it's nice to have Tetra back in her old mood, right?"

"Well, I'm just happy that kind old woman Anjean helped us get our bodies solid again." Mako said with clear gratitude in his face.

"You two!" Tetra shouted, surprising the two talking guys. "Stop lallygagging and get to work! Move it, move it, move it! Nudge, get those cannons shipshape! Gonzo, move these supplies off the top deck! And Link!"

Link appeared from behind the top mast, clearing his brow from sweat. The mere fact he was there was enough to make Tetra quiet down and lower her commanding mood for a moment. Link looked softly at Tetra and gave her a nice, sincere smile, to which Tetra couldn't help but return the smile. For a few short lingering moments, the pair stood like this, their gazes dissolving into each other.

"Link..." Tetra began again, her voice sounding more subdued than before. "Go up the top mast and make yourself useful." Link gave a small chuckle before nodding in understanding and climbing up the ladder to the crow's nest.

And with all preparations complete, and all the people accounted for once again, the Great Sea Pirate Ship sailed off to a new location and a new adventure.

**To Be Continued**


	12. Cold, Cold Mountain

Vote REVIEW ANSWERIN' time for president 2012!

Inspiration of Imagination: I never did intend for Link to be gone for long. It only took that long because the last two chapters (which were originally to be one) got too long. Also, don't expect many more 4th-wall-breaking moments, even though that one was pretty spot on (both in timing and in truth).

Trickster's Imagination: I'm glad you loved it. I loved writing it as well. And yes, planning ahead is so much fun, and I can refine the parts I want until they're good enough for me.

_The Legend of Zelda_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 12:

Cold, Cold Mountain

"Man, I can't take this anymore!" Niko shouted to the sky, making his stance on the situation clear. "I'm gonna freeze to death!"

"Don't go saying that, Niko." Senza scolded the young pirate in an attempt to rise his spirits. "We'll get through this. We just need to go this way, stay together, and eventually we'll... we'll... Oh, who am I kidding? We'll be done for if we don't do something soon. We'll be frozen solid and people in the future will use us to cool their drinks!" He whined, giving in into despair.

"Cold... cold..." Zuko muttered, hugging himself trying to keep what little heat remained in his body. "So very... c-c-c-cold..."

"D-d-d-d-don't give up, men." Tetra admonished her underlings who, one by one, began falling down to their knees and slow to a crawl on the thick, cold snow. "We're not going to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d... to give up the ghost now. We'll make it." Before long, she found herself on her hands and knees as well, barely able to keep her head up as the blistering cold took its toll on her. "J-j-j-j-just a little more... Just a... a little... more... just..."

She tried to not collapse, but Tetra's body could not sustain the freezing temperatures. Before she slipped into unconsciousness, her eyes managed to see the blurry silhouette of a large bird approaching them.

* * *

_**The Day Before...**_

"I LOVE the snow!" Niko shouted in excitement when he saw where they were about to go. It was a completely new, uncharted part of New Hyrule, a land very high up north on the mountain range, the farthest they've been from Waarheid proper while still in the mainland. The ground was lined with soft, pure snow, the trees hid their thick greens in a blanket of white, and the sky looked like it was beautifully adorned with falling crystals. The pirates have donned specialized winter coats, caps and gloves to help them withstand the cold temperatures: While most of them chose a simple viking-style brown fur coat, Tetra was distinguished by wearing a full blue coat and a pink cap that covered her ears, Link found himself a thick green coat with fluffy white edges which had a hood sewn in and made him look strangely like he had no neck when he pulled it up, and Niko somehow got stuck with a tiny red coat with white polka dots.

"I can't believe Beedle would've let us have these for almost nothing." Senza commented.

"You can thank Link for that one." Mako said, pointing at the guy in question. "As soon as you showed him that Complimentary ID, the guy _freaked_!" this produced loads of laughter from the crew as they remembered Beedle's priceless expression.

"Please don't do anything to me!" Nudge wailed in a mock-attempt at Beedle's plea, complete with some exaggerated reactions, resulting in stronger laughter. "It was just a tiny joke, I swear! I'll do anything! Please don't sink my precious business!"

The laughter and joy continued for a while, but eventually subsided in favor of a more serious, business-type tone. Some of the pirates looked forward and backwards, and noticed how despite they were on a wonderful winter wonderland, it was also the middle of nowhere, and despite their strides forwards, this trip was taking way more time than usual, with the sun already beginning its descent from the sky.

"How much longer, Miss Tetra?" Gonzo asked, a sense of worry starting to permeate his tone of voice. "No offense, but if this keeps up, We'll be forced to sleep in these conditions."

"You think I don't know?" Tetra retorted, shooting him a dirty look in between studies of the Goddesses' Compass. "This compass just keeps going and going. It looks as though we'll travel to the northernmost point on this land."

"That's what worries me." Gonzo said.

Tetra did not want to respond to that. She, too, was starting to get frustrated with this apparent lack of progress. It seemed only Niko could find any sort of enjoyment out of being stuck in the snow for such a long period of time. She looked over at Link, who was busy trying to chart the landmarks in a makeshift map so they wouldn't get lost, and approached him.

"Hey, Link." Tetra whispered to him, as to not catch the attention of anyone else. "Would you happen to know something that might, well, make us move faster, get to our next location sooner?"

Link shook his head slowly, his face looking almost like he was facing a painful truth. It was obvious he had already pondered if there were such methods, only to come up with nothing. The closest thing he could think of was the Roc's Feather, but he could only carry one person at a time while using it, and he didn't even want to imagine trying to carry around someone like Senza like that.

"I kinda knew that." Tetra confirmed. "I just wanted to make sure. Well, we'll keep on walking."

The rest of the long trip was spent in agonizing solitude. At this point, the pirates would've half-expected, or even half-wanted a snow creature to attack them, if only to break the monotony of the walk. Sometimes some light chatter broke out, but it was quickly dissipated and the men eventually fell back into silence. For some of them, the never-ending stream of energy of the overtly excited Niko going on about how he loved the winter environment, and even trying to make quick snowmen ("Look, this is you, Mako. And this is you, Gonzo. And this one with the goofy top is the captain!") was an unlikely oasis for them.

After a couple more hours of travel, Tetra announced excitedly that the compass' needle was starting to go haywire, a clear indication they were getting very close. Feeling rejuvenated, Tetra led the sprint towards their next location, followed closely by Link -who disregarded his chart drawing- and then the rest of the pirates. Before long, the group had arrived at a rather tall, steep mountain covered in snow like it were a cake, and a cave entrance could be made out from the rock formations at base level.

"So... this is it?" Gonzo asked hopefully.

Tetra took a quick glance at the compass, which was moving the needle wildly on its axis. "Yep. I think this is the place." She announced happily, to which there was much loud rejoicing among the group. The rejoicing was cut short, however, when the ground began to shake and a loud rumbling was heard all around. The pirates looked up just in time to see the mountain's white coating detach from it and starting to roll down.

"AVALANCHE!" Gonzo and Senza screamed in unison. Link wasted no time and pulled Tetra by the arm, rushing to enter the cave ahead. The rest of the pirates also made a break for it, deciding to forget most of their supplies in favor of saving their skin. The snow was already dropping right by them, threatening to fall down and flatten them any second. "Run, men! Faster!" Gonzo bellowed, hoping the lot of them were running as hard has he was.

Then, with a desperate final lunge forward, Gonzo pushed Mako into the cave just in time to avoid being crushed by the rushing avalanche. The rumbling continued for at least a minute after they were inside the cave, after which it slowed down to a faint flopping sound.

"Yep, we're stuck." Niko acknowledged after surveying the cave's entrance, completely stuffed with snow.

"All right, not to panic." Tetra began, setting to calm any nervous people. "We will just regroup and find a way out of here. Zuko, bring me a lamp." She outstretched her arm and waited for Zuko to approach her with a lamp ready to be lighted... but Zuko did not appear. "Zuko?" Tetra called again, looking around as to where did the baggy-eyed pirate hid. As much as she and the others looked, though, nobody could find a trace of their comrade. "Where is Zuko?"

"You don't think he's..." Niko said hesitantly, pointing over to where the snow pile that penetrated the cave was. He approached the snow and looked at it worriedly, afraid to even try and dig, considering what he could find there. Then...

[POW!]

Niko stumbled and fell flat on his back, apparently unconscious. The other guys did not care about this, instead focusing on what had made Niko stumble and fall. It was Zuko's arm, which punched its way out of the heavy snow and managed to signal his location. "H... Help me, guys!" Gonzo stuttered for a moment before rushing over to the snow and beginning to move the snow away, helped by Senza and Nudge. Mako and Link decided to retrieve the unconscious Niko and tend to his black eye. Thankfully there was enough cold stuff in there to make a decent makeshift cold bag with a sock and set it on his swelling eye.

"I... demand a rematch..." Niko muttered as he slowly began to join his team.

After Zuko was completely dug out and everybody was accounted for and ready, Tetra got a lamp and lighted it, which revealed just how stark and small the room really was. Fortunately for them, there seemed to be a hole leading up, large enough for everybody to slip in, and a ray of orange sunlight slipping in. "Well, guys, Grab whatever's intact and let's climb on." Tetra announced. Link began to crawl into the hole first and indicated the rest that it was okay. One by one, the pirates slipped into the hole, delving deeper into:

**Spectacle Mountain**

When Link climbed out of the other end of the hole, He found himself out on a mountain ledge, facing the clear afternoon sky, its sun already halfway down, hiding behind a handful of clouds. The snow was always a nice sight, but at that point the whole snow-covered scenery was nothing short of awe-inspiring. It was enough to lave his mouth agape.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Tetra said as she caught up with the dumbstruck hero. Link slowly turned his head to look at Tetra, and he couldn't help but muse over just how cute that blue and pink combination looked on her. Tetra looked back at him, and for a few brief moments, the wonderful white scenery she was basking on before was as if nothing. For the brief moments where their eyes met, the two could only see each other. The two could only notice each other. The two could only...

"Best close your mouths, or the cold will freeze them in place." Mako warned casually as he walked along, snapping Link and Tetra back into reality and making them look in opposite directions, trying in their own way to hide their reddening factions. Link decided to take one last look at the scenery before continuing, when he noticed a strange blot on the sun that was slowly growing larger and larger. "Wait... What's that?" Mako pointed out, also noticing the blot on the sun.

As the blot got larger, Link and Mako began noticing that it had wings and a feathery tail. "It's a bird. A huge one, and it's coming closer to us." Mako theorized, making the other pirates take notice and follow the bird's moments on their own.

"Maybe it's that large bird we saved before." Nudge said. "What was its name? Ron? Buck? Rush?"

"Roc." Mako reminded them. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all get a feather from him? We'd skip straight to the top of this mountain, for example."

The pirates stood around, looking as the bird approached them. As it got closer, however, the bird did not resemble the enigmatic Roc at all. Instead, the bird resembled a large owl, its feathers were predominantly brown, and its face was starting to look odd, as if the bird was wearing some sort of mask. With a loud thud, the bird perched itself in the lowest part of the ledge, and the pirates were suddenly looking straight in the face of:

Masked-faced Hungry Owl

**Kabora**

Through its sunken-looking eyes, Kabora began looking at the group, with a intense curiosity about it. It cocked its head slightly and lowered it slowly as to look at the frightened people in front of it closer.

"Link!" Tetra elbowed the green-covered guy to try and get him in a thinking mood. "Communicate with it. Now."

Link got the idea and began searching for his Wind Waker baton while stepping behind the group to buy some time. He found a clear view to Kabora's head and began conducting the Command Melody. Afterwards, he merely blinked before his consciousness jumped into the giant bird. He sought to find any thought that he could use to their advantage... but the only thoughts the owl had went like:

"Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. Food."

"Meat. Meat. Meat. Meat. Meat. Meat. Meat."

"I wonder if these insects are made of meat."

Link's eyes shot open with the utmost worry and fear drawn on his face. Tetra turned around to ask him what he saw or heard, but his deathly afraid complexion told her enough to question why were they still stupidly standing in front of this overgrown owl. She turned back to face the owl, which was beginning to take a step forward, and began whispering to her underlings. "Let's just back away slowly. Don't startle it."

The group began walking backwards up the mountain ledge, careful not to make any sudden sounds and hope that Kabora would just stay there and forget about them. The masked owl lowered its head until it almost touched the snow, always looking toward what it looked to it like delicious morsels, wondering why were they moving like that. Then, the owl opened its curved beak with a loud screech and snapped at the air, obviously going for a bite. "No way, man. I'm running for my life!" Niko squealed and turned around to run far away from Kabora. The other pirates followed soon, knowing no other way of dealing with the threat in front of them. As they ran, Kabora began running as well, quickly gaining ground and attempting to bite at them when it got close, missing by mere feet.

Then, Link got an idea. He gave Gonzo and Tetra bombs and pulled one for himself and lighted it. He waited a short while for the fuse to go down before stopping on his tracks, turning around and throwing a bomb towards the overgrown owl. The bomb blew up in midair, scaring the owl into a full stop and buying the group a bit more time. Unfortunately, some snow started to slip off the mountain, making for an additional hazard they did not need. They continued running, avoiding piles of snow and hoping that they weren't followed anymore.

"There! A cave!" Nudge announced as a thin opening in the mountain came into view. The pirates made a great effort to dash for it, when suddenly Kabora appeared right beside them, flying dangerously close to them. The owl got ahead of them and turned in a circle to try and cut them in time, but Tetra had already planned ahead.

"Now, Gonzo!" She ordered her first mate, and both of them lighted the bombs' fuses and aimed it at Kabora. When it was close enough, the duo threw the bombs as far as they could straight towards it. While Tetra's bomb blew in midair, Gonzo's went a bit further and managed to blow up close to one of Kabora's wings, making it cry in pain. "Quick! Everyone inside!" Tetra bellowed as she noticed how, despite the distraction, Kabora was still set to dive-bomb them. Everyone ran and quickly made it in, making it a point to stay as far away from the cave entrance as possible. Then, with a loud crash followed by a slight avalanche, Kabora's beastly beak poked into the cave entrance, enticing much screams from the pirates, and it pecked, snapped and screeched loudly a few times. After its several failed attempts, though, the big owl retired its beak from the small entrance and flew off wearily, as Senza confirmed.

"He's gonna come back, isn't he?" Tetra said, worried for her mental and physical health. She looked at Link, who could merely nod slightly, clearly spent by that whole experience.

After a short time to rest, the group lit up the lamps again and inspected the room. There was another way further inside the cave, and although they were unsure what they'd find, anything was better than being chased by a crazy giant bird.

The inside of this cave room was a lot more elaborate than they expected. It was perfectly circular, with as perfectly a circular wooden platform set up in the center of it all, and a couple of raised platforms close to the ceiling held up by pillars. The pirates wondered what could such a weird construction be doing here... when the entrance got blocked off by a rock. Then, a faint, high pitched taunting sing-song voice was heard, then another, and another, until there were a lot of similar voices coming from all around the room, though the pirates could not find out where it was coming from. Link, however, began getting on point and pulled out his sword and shield and began searching intently. Tetra noticed this shift in Link's behavior and took it as a fair warning, so she pulled out her sabre and ordered the rest to do so as well. "Everyone on the platform. Stand back-to-back."

No sooner had they set themselves properly did the first tiny enemy appear from the raised platforms. It was a black and red imp with big, bulgy eyes and a large head for its small body and odd-looking ragged clothes. On its hand it was holding a crudely made iron spear, wielding it like if were a mere toy.

"Miniblins." Gonzo muttered between his teeth, his factions turning darker. "I hate those guys."

"I know." Nudge concurred. "Tricksters, they are. Best watch out for them."

When the Miniblin saw the pirates on the platform, it turned around and started screeching oddly while flailing its stringy arms about. Before long, a horde of Miniblins started appearing from every raised platform, echoing their taunting sing-song tones, hopping anxiously to come down.

"Don't let your guard down." Tetra warned, while noticing how the Miniblins were crowding on the small raised platforms. Eventually, the Miniblins on the ledges were so many that a group of them were pushed off, most of them landing on their oversize heads. Without skipping a beat, though, the fallen imps stood back up, picked up their weapons and ran to where the pirates were. Mako and Senza were the first to receive them, blocking their lunges and slashing them away to the back of the room. Nudge and Gonzo were a walking, talking yin and tang combination, with Nudge treating the imps more calmly than the furious Gonzo, who was swinging his sabre at the Miniblins with reckless abandon. Zuko felt like he was babysitting Niko, who was flailing his sabre wildly, often missing and getting poked around constantly. Tetra and Link seemed to be the most coordinated pair, Swinging and stabbing in such a fashion that they did not separate for more than a few inches at a time.

The Miniblins came in swarms, poised to press their opponents with sheer numbers alone. They came from all sides, some using their lances as makeshift poles to launch themselves in the thick of it all and surprise the pirates. While it did break their momentum, the group merely sidestepped for a moment to take care of the nuisance before continuing the pummeling. When it looked more and more that sheer number alone was not going to work, fewer and fewer Miniblins braved to jump down and attack the well-prepared group. Eventually, the last few imps made a run for it and clawed their way to the raised platforms, preferring to live humiliated that to die painfully. Soon, the room was cleared of Miniblins, and not a single bit of their taunting sing-song voices could be heard.

"That's it?" Senza wondered, looking at the sudden desolate room. His question was answered when the rocks blocking the entryways slid away.

"I dunno..." Gonzo said, watching the raised platforms carefully. "I don't like this one bit."

"Well, personally, I look like a connect-the-dots game." Niko commented on his 'spotty' appearance, moving towards the exit leading upwards. "So I'm taking this chance to leave."

"Yeah. No use waiting them out here, Gonzo." Nudge said to the still-unmoving pirate. "Let's go."

* * *

The band of pirates was now in another mountain ledge, wary to the fact that the ceiling was much lower, making them crouch down while walking, as well as being very attentive to any strange birds around. So far, however, the only challenge was the ever increasing cold, a feat some thought impossible for mother nature to fulfill. The group walked a bit closer to preserve heat in the sight of a sun that was slowly hiding in the horizon, and hurried as much as they could to reach the top of the ledge. Link could see they were already pretty high up the mountain, and a misstep could mean a nasty fall.

Due to his distraction, however, he did not notice the rest of the group stopped cold on their tracks. He bumped right on Tetra's back, who answered the empty-headed move with a mixture of anger and worry. "Link, you idiot." She whispered while holding on to him by his hood. When Link registered the tone of worry in Tetra's voice, he looked in the direction the convoy was walking, only to see an unmistakable row of brown feathers just barely protruding from the corner. Link's eyes bulged open in frightful understanding: That was Kabora, and it was blocking their way forward. "Yeah, now you get it." Tetra scolded Link. "We need a plan to get that bird outta there so we can get through."

"Digging?" Mako suggested, to which he immediately caught his folly. "No, wait. The mountain's all stone. We wouldn't be able to slip through."

"What we need is a distraction." Tetra stated. "Something that will make the owl fly off long enough for us to get past. Any ideas?"

"Well... bombs worked in the past..." Nudge explained casually. "Maybe we could find a way to make the bomb fly off far away and make a spectacular boom so its either scared off or so intrigued it'll fly away from here."

"Come on, that's..." Tetra was about to disregard the suggestion when she saw Link rummaging through his bag. "...Link?"

When Link emerged, he had his green Magical Glove on and a bomb strapped to an arrow. He then pushed around until he had both Gonzo and Senza firmly hold the bow for him while he loaded the arrow on it. He then pulled back as far as the bowstring allowed him, pulling farther than he could normally alone, and tied to set up the best course for the bow. Before letting go, he powered the arrow with fire, something that startled the pirates slightly, then let the bomb fly. As predicted, Kabora saw the flaming arrow and sought to follow it as it went up then slowly began its descent. The pirates took this opportunity to slide past the point where Kabora previously was, and walked along to an opening to another cave in the mountain. When Kabora caught up with the arrow, the bird saw the already-familiar dangerous explosive object, and set to fly away before the bomb could explode too close. It then looked back to where it was laying down, and saw the same people from before crossing the path.

"You think he saw us?" Niko wondered as he approached the cave entrance.

"Yes..." Zuko said while pointing to the sky. The rest of the crew looked at the direction Zuko pointed at, which showed Kabora again trying to dive-bomb the group. This time, however, the overgrown owl was dangerously close to them.

"Inside, everyone!" Tetra bellowed while pulling out her bow. "I'll distract 'im!" She then began throwing arrow after arrow towards the owl, trying to slow it down. It looked like her efforts were not enough, when she noticed there were more arrows flying than what she could throw. Tetra spared a quick glance sideways to see Link armed with his own bow and shooting at Kabora as well. The pair shot arrows as fast as they could, and though Kabora tried to evade them, some bows reached their target, making it screech in pain as the arrowheads pierced through. Eventually, the large bird decided to make a hasty retreat and disappeared from view.

"Whew. That drained me." Tetra said as she took a small breath. She then noticed how her quiver was rattling, and took a look only to see how there were only three arrows left. "And apparently, so has my quiver." Link then showed her his quiver to show that his story was the same: only two arrows left. "That owl has got to be the most stubborn, resilient son-of-a-submariner I've yet to see."

"Guys..." Niko's voice rang out from inside the cave. "I think you should come see this."

Once everyone got inside, the environment they were on was eerily similar. The room was perfectly circular, with as perfectly a circular, albeit quite worn wooden platform set up in the center of it all, and a couple of raised platforms close to the ceiling held up by pillars. The pirates began wondering why would there be two equal constructions in the same mountain.

"This is just creepy." Mako said.

Just then, the entrance in which they entered was blocked off by a large rock. From all round, the all-too-familiar taunting sing-song tones began to sound and chant. Gonzo's muscles began to tense up as he quickly reached for his sabre and looked around intensely. "They're coming. They want more, it seems."

"Gonzo?"

"Quiet, swabbie." Gonzo interrupted Niko while keeping his gaze upward. "I wanna be ready for them."

"But Gonzo, I really think you..."

"I said quiet." Gonzo snarled, yet he did not look down at all.

"Gonzo!"

"What?!" Gonzo finally lowered his gaze, only to see what the rest of the crew was looking at: from the other side of the cave, a tall suit of armor colored in the deepest red, and wielding a long, polished lance and a shield started approaching the middle platform where Gonzo was. Gonzo's feet were frozen in place, as he hesitated whether to battle the strong opponent or not. Next thing he knew, the armored enemy was right in front of him, and before he could react, he was punched squarely in the jaw, making him stumble back a few steps before falling off the platform, completely knocked out.

"Gonzo!" Tetra yelled out. Everybody went over to where the unconscious first mate lay, worried for him.

"He's ok." Mako announced after checking Gonzo's pulse. "He's just out of it. Give him some time."

The group now shifted their focus over to the red menace standing in front of them, looking stoically at the scene on the floor. Around them, the raised platforms began to fill with Miniblins, who jeered and hopped in wild expectation. These Miniblins did not fall down to battle, but instead decided to sit this one down and enjoy the show.

Link and Tetra quickly stood up, followed by the rest of the crew. They were dead set on defeating this shameless combatant. If the armor thought it okay to sucker-punch an opponent, then five-on-one shouldn't be bad, either. Link stepped on the stage first, taking his coat off on the way for better mobility. Tetra followed him...

"Oof!" Tetra felt she was stopped by an invisible force. When she probed, she noticed there was an invisible barrier all around the wooden platform, and it was impossible to get through. "What the...? Link! Get outta there!" She called the young hero, banging on the invisible barrier with her open palm. "We'll think up something else. Just don't risk yourself."

Link took a small moment to look back at Tetra and reached out his left hand towards hers. The barrier, however, did not let him leave at all, much less reach out to her fully. Tetra's face was beginning to become flush with worry, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape in a grimace. Link gave her some sort of incredulous stare, as if he thought she had forgotten who he was, before giving her a sympathetic smile and retiring his hand to arm himself with his sword and shield.

"What does this mean, then?" Niko asked, worry all over his face.

"Most likely, Link is stuck." Mako explained. "And he'll need to battle that Darknut alone."

"Darknut?" Nudge asked.

"Yeah. It's strange though." Mako wondered. "Darknuts are usually only seen wielding swords, but this one has a lance. Link better be careful with this one."

Link faced the Darknut with fierce determination, determined to not lose to this guy. The Darknut began by walking closer to Link, making the green hero sidestep for some space. Then the Darknut stabbed at Link with the lance, but he held fast to his shield and blocked the piercing attack, gathering just enough breather room to recover some space. He tried using his boomerang to stun the big guy, but the armor was too sturdy for the boomerang. Then, the Darknut hopped back and the lance was raised. Link knew this movement too well, and her rolled out of the way before the Darknut pulled his specialty attack: throwing the lance straight forward, which, to the surprise of everybody, pierced through the invisible barrier and got stuck to the wall. It was then that people noticed how the lance was attached to a chain, which the Darknut yanked, making the lance retract to its hand.

Link knew he needed to get on the offensive, and fast. He quickly tried to remember what he did when he faced other Darknuts. He needed to take advantage of his nimble agility to attack the Darknut from behind. Thus, instead of moving constantly, he decided to stay put and wait for an opening. The Darknut saw this and grabbed the lance with both hands, plunging it straight down at Link's general direction. Link, however, took this as a chance to roll out of the way and rush to the Darknut's back, where he saw the glaring flaw in its armor: It was being held together by a couple of red strings. He wasted no time and swung his sword upwards, cutting most of the strings and making the Darknut stumble with a dangling suit of armor. This gave Link the perfect opportunity to wail on the Darknut before it could react. Link threw his boomerang and stunned him, followed closely by planting a bomb right inside the armor and shielding himself as it detonated. The resulting explosion relieved the Darknut of all its armor and weapons as it shattered against the invisible barrier, exposing the creature inside it. The dog-faced creature looked positively angry as it noticed its new weakened condition, and began to make quick strides towards Link, showcasing refined multi-tiered combat tactics.

Link then noticed the Chained Lance sitting right behind the Darknut, and decided to get it and use it against his opponent. The Darknut, however, was ready for this and pushed Link to the barrier with a roundhouse kick and picked up the lance. "Link, get up!" Tetra shouted as she noticed Link was stirring groggily, trying to recover from the blow. When Link registered what was happening, he saw the Darknut aiming the lance straight at him, and he barely had time to dive out of the way before the Darknut threw the lance at him. The Chained Lance went through the barrier and into the wall, just like before, but before the Darknut could reel the lance in again, Link sliced its leg and made it squeal in pain and drop the chain.

"Quick! Pull that chain!" Tetra ordered her underlings, and together they pulled on the lance's chain. After some effort, the pirates outside had control of the Chained Lance, and in turn, gave Link an advantage in the fight. Link, on his part, started using his boomerang liberally, making sure the Darknut could not retaliate, as he had no intention of making this a fair fight. Boomerang, slice, slash. Boomerang, slice, slash. The repeated pattern was being delivered with fierce intensity, and the Darknut could do little else than grunt after each blow. Still, no matter how strong Link wailed on the Darknut, it would not buckle and give up. The increasingly tired look on Link's face did not go unnoticed, and the Miniblins jeered on as they saw how the young hero was being worn down.

"That Darknut..." Senza said, his eyes widening with frightful realization. "It's immortal. It's just waiting for Link to get tired and then..."

"No." Tetra interrupted, her face turning increasingly determined. "There's one thing that defeats that guy. And we have it."

Link kept wailing on the Darknut, unwilling to let it beat him. His exhaustion, however, was starting to slow him down, and he needed to find a way to end this soon. His sword abilities were becoming sluggish, and he sometimes missed with his boomerang. Link eventually packed his boomerang and resorted to throwing some Deku Nuts to stun the Darknut. Just then, a voice bellowed from behind him.

"Link! Get out of the way!"

The urgency in the voice resonated inside him before anything else, and he instinctively dived to the ground. The Darknut snapped back into reality just in time to see its own lance being thrown at him by a golden-blond girl. The taunting jeering for the Miniblins suddenly quieted after witnessing what happened: the Darknut laid flat and unmoving on the floor, its own lance piercing its gut. The barrier had disappeared, but Link did not move away from the platform, for he sat admiring the lance's handiwork with a half-tired, half-smug look upon his face. He then stood up, walked over to where the inert body of the Darknut lay, and claimed the Chained Lance for his own.

The Miniblins finally jumped down from the raised platforms, but did not look for any sort of fight. Instead, they went straight for the Darknut, and in a massive effort, picked the large warrior up and carried it out of the room. Some of the Miniblins looked back at the pirates (especially Link) with a look of utter contempt before leaving with the rest.

* * *

"Looks like you're coming around."

Mako welcomed the recovering Gonzo to the world of the conscious, much to the delight of everybody else around him. "Uh... Wha... What happened? Did... did that thing...?"

"Not to worry, Gonzo." Senza began explaining. "Link's already taken care of it."

"Link?" Gonzo questioned while getting to his feet. "Did he really...?"

"What does that tell you?" Tetra said while pointing to Link holding the Chained Lance the Darknut was wielding not too long ago. "With a little help from the crew, of course."

Gonzo took a good look at Link, somewhat incredulous, and still quite groggy from the knockout punch. He could hardly believe that Link could accomplish what he could not. Still, he felt good that someone could avenge him good. "Well done, kid. Now you better explain the details later."

"Well..." Tetra spoke out, trying to return to the task at hand. "Can you stand?"

"We'll see." Gonzo answered while he struggled to his feet. After wobbling a few moments, the large pirate stood steady on his feet, solid enough to walk on his own. "Ah. There we go. I think I can handle it from here on."

After Gonzo's situation improved, the team walked through the cave hole leading further upwards. The hole led them outside on another mountain ledge. This time, however, the ledge did not have a road up, an it looked like the group had reached a dead end. To make matters worse, the sun had pretty much disappeared from view, and the last lingering sun rays were starting to extinguish.

"Zuko, lamps. Mako, status." Tetra ordered quickly, noticing the urgency of the situation.

"There's obviously no easy way up." Mako stated while surveying the location. "It looks like we may be able to climb up, but I'm not sure if we'll even find solid footing up there."

"Ugh... Do we have a choice?" Gonzo asked, still feeling rather woozy over his bad fall.

Mako took a good look all around the visible footing of the ledge, but found nothing else nearby to walk on. "Sadly, no." He said, shaking his head.

Link took a good look at what they had to climb, then his gaze automatically turned to Tetra's right arm. "What?" Tetra wondered, thinking it strangely he was focusing on her arm of all things. She then remembered her previous wound in that very arm. "Oh, that. Don't worry, that won't bother me anymore." She then pulled the same semi-incredulous gaze he previously gave her. "Now I tell you, don't you remember who _I_ am?" Link saw this and returned her sentiment with a sly grin.

"We climb..." Zuko said, starting to point to several areas higher up the mountain. "There's ledges there... there... and there."

"All right, then. We got Link's hookshot, the grappling hooks, rope, and a couple of knives we could use to grab on..." Tetra mused, recounting what they could use, "... and that lance might be useful, too."

No sooner had she said that, though, that a creepy screeching sound was heard from beneath them. "This can't be real." Nudge said, almost laughing at the event. Then, a flurry of brown feathers swooped up into view, and once it settled, an odd, mask-like face was staring back at them. Kabora stared at the pirates, looking as hungry as ever.

Link thought quickly to further the climb and threw the lance toward the rocky mountain wall. The lance latched on securely, allowing him to climb up by retracting the chain. Once he was standing on top of the lance, Link began to pull out a bomb with the intent of scaring the owl off... but Kabora noticed this in time and flapped its wings rapidly, forcing Link to drop the bomb and hang on to the lance. The pirates decided to help Link against Kabora by taking out their flintlocks and unloading their only bullet at the overgrown bird.

"Over here, you big, stupid bird!" Gonzo shouted as he aimed his shot at Kabora. The owl looked down just in time for a bullet to miss just mere inches from its head. This made it furious, and swooped down to where the intrepid pirates were. Taking this chance, the pirates pulled out some spare bombs and began lighting them, but Kabora had turned too smart for bombs and began flapping its large wings again, making the bombs fall from their hands and roll down the mountain. The pirates were starting to look desperate for ideas, when a few falling rocks fell on Kabora's head. The overgrown bird and the pirates looked up to see Link hanging from a ledge by his hookshot and holding the lance on his left hand. Kabora began to swoop back up to where Link was, but Link was waiting just for that, and threw the lance right at the owl when it was close enough. Although Kabora tried to avoid the attack, the lance managed to graze its face, making the owl screech in pain and drop some distance from where the pirates stood, before managing to recover in midair and flying off again.

"I swear that thing's got something against us..." Nudge commented.

"I'm worried about what we'll do it that thing comes along again." Gonzo said. "We're running short on stuff."

* * *

After a strenuous, but otherwise uneventful climb, the pirate crew managed to find a ledge that looked like it went all the way to the top of the mountain. Time, however, was not in their favor, as night had already settled in, with the moon reigning over the dark blue skies, and myriad of stars appearing one by one. They eventually found a small cave and settled in for the night. They gathered some spare lumber, and Link used one of his final arrows to light a bonfire.

"All right, men." Tetra spoke. "Set your sleeping bags quickly. I'm gonna call out night-watch shifts."

"Night watch? Why?" Mako questioned.

"Because in case you forgot..." Gonzo interjected, "... there are still some nasty little imps roaming the area, and we can't let them get the jump on us."

"By the way," Tetra regained control of the conversation. "Thanks for volunteering for the first two shifts. Mako, you'll be first. Gonzo, second."

"Wha... I... oh, okay." Mako stuttered, only to agree glumly due to the futility of arguing.

"Good. Zuko, you'll have the final shift." Tetra announced while she walked over to her own sleeping bag. "The rest of us get some sleep, because I expect a tough time tomorrow. Now good night, everyone." And with that, Tetra laid down inside her sleeping bag and stopped paying attention to the crew.

Mako, Gonzo and Zuko looked at each other apprehensively, knowing what all this meant. "Wake me in about two hours." Gonzo said simply while retiring to his sleeping bag.

[About two hours later...]

"Gonzo... Gonzo..." Mako quietly called.

"No... I swear I didn't take the last muffin." Gonzo muttered in his sleep.

"Gonzo, wake up." Mako called, more energetically this time.

"Uh... huh?" Gonzo opened his eyes lazily while looking around to what had disturbed him. "Wha...? Mako?"

"Time to change shifts, Gonzo." Mako told the sleepy pirate. "Come on, get up."

"Uh... oh. Ok, gimme a sec." Gonzo answered while starting to sit up. "All right. I'll take it from here. Good night, Mako."

"Good night, Gonzo." Mako responded in a yawn before walking over to his sleeping corner. Mako fell asleep very soon, leaving Gonzo alone to work his shift. For a few moments Gonzo head tipped slightly in sleep, but he quickly recovered. He decided to try and get some warmth from the fire in the middle of the cave, and feed the lingering flames with some fresh wood in the process. While he sat in front of the flames, he noticed something strange in the cave. He began looking around, but there was nothing out of the ordinary, at least, not that he could see. The air, however, was getting strange. He wasn't sure whether it was the high altitude, his proximity to the flames, or the fact that he was just sleepy, but the air just smelled... funny. He tried to check what was happening, but somehow, his drowsiness was getting the better of him. He tried to stand, but he merely stumbled and wobbled around before falling to his knees. He struggled with himself, but it was just too much. Gonzo dropped, defeated by sleep, right on the cold, hard ground.

Then, a taunting sing-song voice began getting louder and louder. And another sound came out... a snipping sound.

* * *

The sunlight filtered through the cave's entrance, lighting the dark room. Link's eyes were the first unfortunate victims of its blinding rays, forcing the young hero to stir and wake up. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he began to make out a golden-blond mane partially covering his view. When he focused more, he saw Tetra holding on to him while on her sleep. Link's expressions turned positively red upon the compromising position he found himself into. Fortunately for him, he was the only one awake, so he was able to separate himself with nobody noticing. No sooner had he done so, though, did Tetra began to stir and groan. Link looked at her... and something was wrong. The mere fact that he could see her fully, her hair, her blue vest, her red sash and her white pants... something was seriously wrong here.

"Uh... Link?" Tetra said as she opened her eyes lazily. She then noticed how Link sported a strange look. "What's wrong?"

Link could not believe what he was seeing. His gaze went from side to side of the room, and what he saw made him worry more and more.

"Link, what is... Hey, where's your coat?" Tetra asked upon noticing Link lacked the essential anti-cold gear. All Link could do is give her an uneasy look while he pointed at her. She then looked at herself and noticed she did not have her own jacket, nor did she have her cap. "Where is MY coat?" Now wide awake, she took a good look around the cave, and her face mimicked Link's: she looked strangely worried as she noticed how every single pirate lacked not only their coats, but also their sleeping bags. Furthermore, the fire and all the spare wood was buried in a pile of snow, rendering it unusable.

"Mako! Gonzo! Zuko!" Tetra yelled in anger, waking up not only the people called, but the rest of the group as well. "Who's responsible for this? Who fell asleep and let this happen?"

"Let what happen?" Mako asked, still not fully awake.

"AAAAAH!" Niko's voice echoed from behind Tetra. "Somebody ripped my coat and stole my sleeping bag! This piece is the only part left!"

"That." Tetra answered.

"Uh... don't look at me." Mako quickly answered. "I did my shift and woke Gonzo before going to sleep."

"I don't remember waking up..." Zuko mentioned.

"Now wait a minute. I was... wait..." Gonzo started to try and remember what happened last night. "I seem to remember a distinct smell last night. It was a funny smell, something I could not quite put my finger on."

Tetra looked at Gonzo with a quasi-incredulous face, but before she went to lash out at him, she got a small whiff of something in the air. "Wait... I smell something funny now." She said. The pirates got the idea and began searching the cave. Zuko then stumbled upon a steel can near the cave's entrance that had a small hole on a side. When he took the can to his face and smelled it, his eyes watered and his eyelids became heavy, then falling down on the floor and sleeping like a baby.

"Sleeping gas." Gonzo said, his face beginning to scowl. "Those imps did it again! When I get my hands on them, I will wring them dry with my bare hands! I will skewer them and make barbecued imp with them! I will knock them into the nether realm where annoying, useless imps are supposed to be! I will..."

"Ok, calm down, Gonzo!" Senza tried to bring his partner's temper down. "Look, we've been had, but there's nothing we can do now."

"Y-yes there is." Niko said, beginning to stammer from the cold. "We could freeze to death..."

"Would you be quiet?" Tetra scolded the poor, buck-tooth pirate. "Look, guys. I know this looks bad, but we have no choice. We have to climb up to the top and retrieve the missing pages. We'll think up something on the way down."

"Well that's nice and all..." Nudge commented, "... but would you climb up on weather like this?" He then pointed to the cave entrance, which served as a window to the severe snowstorm that was happening outside. The pirates looked at the horrendous spectacle, and his morale (as well as his inner temperature) dropped. They all looked at each other, and their unmistakable worry was mirrored in the other men's faces.

Tetra sighed deeply as she meditated about their current situation. "Ok." She said, attempting to remain calm by subduing her voice. "I will not force you to come with me. You can stay here if you want to. You can try and find a way down if you think that's safer. I promise will not think any less of you or charge you for treason or anything, ok? However, I have to do this. I have to recover the missing pages, regardless of how harsh the weather is out there. This is my duty, and I will fulfill it. Now those of us who wish to follow me up... you'd best pick up your stuff quick."

Tetra then silently walked over to where her stuff had miraculously remained untouched and started packing it all on her bag, only leaving her sabre and her grappling hook outside in case she needed them. When she turned to leave, though, the seven guys were standing right by her, bags hanging behind their backs.

"I say we take a vote." Gonzo spoke. "All of those in favor of climbing the rest of the mountain, raise your arm." Then, seven arms were suddenly lifted to the skies. Every one of the pirates looked at each other and though uncertainty still traced their factions, they knew this wasn't something new, and they needed to finally stop all the doubts and uncertainties and run headlong into what needed to be done, if they needed to do so.

Tetra saw this display and decided to give the guys one of her usual sly smiles. "Well, don't just stand there looking stupid. We got a mountain to conquer!" She said, resulting in much cheering from the pirates.

* * *

They knew the environment was harsh. They knew they were facing a tough climb. They knew that going on without their protective coats would hinder them. They knew all this, and still, they braved the white storm outside. Still, the pirates did not expect to be so utterly cold so very fast.

"Man, I can't take this anymore!" Niko shouted to the sky, making his stance on the situation clear. "I'm gonna freeze to death!"

"Don't go saying that, Niko." Senza scolded the young pirate in an attempt to rise his spirits. "We'll get through this. We just need to go this way, stay together, and eventually we'll... we'll... Oh, who am I kidding? We'll be done for if we don't do something soon. We'll be frozen solid and people in the future will use us to cool their drinks!" He whined, giving in into despair.

"Cold... cold..." Zuko muttered, hugging himself trying to keep what little heat remained in his body. "So very... c-c-c-cold..."

"D-d-d-d-don't give up, men." Tetra admonished her underlings who, one by one, began falling down to their knees and slow to a crawl on the thick, cold snow. "We're not going to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d... to give up the ghost now. We'll make it." Before long, she found herself on her hands and knees as well, barely able to keep her head up as the blistering cold took its toll on her. "J-j-j-j-just a little more... Just a... a little... more... just..."

She tried to not collapse, but Tetra's body could not sustain the freezing temperatures. Before she slipped into unconsciousness, her eyes managed to see the blurry silhouette of a large bird approaching them.

* * *

"... Just... a little... more..."

"Hey, I think she's coming to."

"... A little more... Uh? What?" Tetra began mumbling as her vision became less and less blurry. She half-expected a white place (either below the snow storm or in the Spirit Realm again), but the place was a dark blue, with dimmed lighting. In front of her, two faces began to take shape: On her left was Mako, who, considering that she could see the ceiling, was probably tending for her, and on her right was Link, his face halfway going from a worrisome look a relieved smile.

"What happened to...?" Tetra tried to ask, but then her last memory kicked right in. "WAIT! The bird... the owl! It was right in front of me. What...?"

"No, Miss Tetra." Mako corrected his captain. "That was no owl. Look." He then pointed to his right. When Tetra followed Mako's finger, she noticed a large bird just standing there, with no real intent on fighting. The bird seemed like a cross between a cuccoo and a vulture, something Tetra had not seen... at least not since that one day...

"Don't you see?" Mako spoke again. "That's Roc! He found us in the snow and brought us to this cave on the top of the mountain. He's saved us."

"Yeah, that bird is wonderful." Gonzo said, his face showing his extreme happiness. "I'm glad we saved 'im."

"How come you're so happy?" Tetra wondered. Gonzo then pointed to a spot on the ceiling where a net was hanging. Inside the net were a lot of Miniblins writhing and thrashing wildly, but no matter how much they tried, the net was not breaking any time soon.

Already feeling recovered, Tetra stood up and walked over to where Roc was. The gentle bird lowered its head calmly and looked at the pirate captain eye-to-eye. "Roc, thank you." Tetra said while taking a bow. Roc responded by giving out a low, tender chirp and reaching his beak at Tetra's extended arm, who began petting it slowly. "Roc, if I may ask, do you know if there's some sort of chest in this mountain that may contain a few pieces of paper? It's important for me to find them."

Roc raised its head slowly after being asked. The large bird began looking around, as if it was trying to remember the procured object's location. Suddenly, Roc began to walk out to the elongated cave entrance and with a mighty screech flew out and up to the very top.

"I think she scared it." Nudge commented before getting a nasty look by Tetra.

Soon after, Roc returned from the top of the mountain, this time carrying something on its leg. It was the very chest they were seeking, right there in front of them, without the need to risk themselves with another icy trek. Roc dropped the chest in the snowy entrance before landing and entered the cave while shaking off the snow.

At that moment, a large shadow passed just outside. The pirates rushed out only to notice how the recently retrieved chest was gone and how a bundle of brown feathers flew away from the mountain. Everybody just stood slack-jawed at the sudden incident, unwilling to believe such a thing had happened.

Then, Roc emitted a loud screech, echoed by Tetra's angry yell which were both strong enough to shake the mountain off excess snow. "That owl is gonna regret messing with me!" Tetra vented off. "I don't know how yet, but I'm gonna get that owl and I'm gonna get it good!"

Roc cawed at Tetra and lowered its head to the floor and flapped its wing in an inviting form. The pirates noticed what the large bird intended to do, and began to question whether this would work or not.

"Not to offend you, large bird..." Senza spoke, looking around all of the pirates, "... but all of us, on top of you... we're not gonna fit."

"That's all right." Tetra spoke out. "Link and I will go. My problem is more how of will we deal with the cold."

Roc seemed to understand this, as it turned its gaze upwards towards the net full of Miniblins, and screeched loudly at them. The Miniblins, quivering in fear, produced two winter garbs: one blue and one green. Tetra and Link put the cold repelling clothes quickly and mounted Roc without skipping a beat. "All right. Let's get us some bird dinner." Tetra declared.

Roc walked out of the cave with Link and Tetra on tow. Once outside, the cucco-vulture flapped its wings ferociously and took to the skies. Roc flew once around the mountain before setting off to explore the rest of the land. From the sky, Tetra and Link could truly see the expansion of terrain they had covered before: from the part where the snow starts to show up in the ground to the thick, pure white mounds all over the northernmost areas, it was truly an large and amazing sight.

Then, from the sun blinded side of the horizon, the familiar frame of the masked owl came into view. "There!" Tetra shouted. "Let's catch up to him!" Roc then redoubled his efforts and rushed over to where Kabora was flying. As they got closer, Link noticed that Kabora definitely had the chest in tow, and made it known to Tetra.

"Link, give me the lance." Tetra ordered. Link obliged, making sure Tetra handled the large object by the hind area and its chains. Tetra pulled out some of the chain off the lance and aimed the pointy object at the chest. "Nice and easy..." Tetra tried to bring herself to concentrate enough to throw the lance, but just a second before she could, Kabora made a swift turn left and made her miss. "Stupid...! Bird!" Tetra shouted in anger. She then remembered what she was on and made amends. "Eh... not you, Roc."

Roc gave a small screech and swooped down and left, trying to shorten the distance between it and the owl. After the initial attempt, Kabora had begun to fly in erratic movements, making it harder for Tetra to try and get a good shot on the chest. "Roc! I think we better move above the owl!" Tetra suggested. Roc complied and began to gain altitude, eventually flying just above the masked owl. At first, Roc struggled to match Kabora's erratic movements, but eventually, they were swiveling in unison, much to the brown bird's chagrin. Tetra knew it was time to act, and she aimed the Chained Lance again, this time at Kabora's back. "Hold on to the chain as well, Link." She said, and gave Link some of the chain. Tetra concentrated on her aim, and when she felt the time was right, she threw the lance with all of her strength.

Kabora let out a shrill screech in pain as the lance lodged itself in its back. "Now, Link!" Tetra shouted as she began pulling on the chain. Link, holding onto the very end of the chain, activated its retracting ability by pulling with all his might. Slowly, Kabora lost control of its own flight pattern, merely struggling to stay airborne. Eventually, the masked owl was carried very close to Roc. "Now's your turn, Roc!" Tetra bellowed. Roc cawed furiously as it jabbed and pecked Kabora time and again with its beak, taking off precious brown plumage at every peck.

Eventually, though, The retracting effect was too strong to hold and the lance loosened itself from Kabora's back, giving the owl just enough time to fly south. Roc did not miss a beat and gave chase. They crossed the mountain range and let the snow covered land behind, instead looking forward for a fight above the skies of Waarheid. Kabora opted to fly up as fast as its wings could go, but Roc was not intimidated by any sort of scare tactics and followed suit. "Wait. Watch out!" Tetra yelled when she saw Kabora fly right down and try to collide with Roc. The large bird had little time to react, and just barely dodged the kamikaze attack. After the attempted strike, Kabora sort of glided on the sky, giving Tetra the perfect opportunity to try and latch on the bird with the Chained Lance again. As Roc went down, Tetra aimed and threw the lance at Kabora's back, Getting it by the side. "Link, your turn! Go down and don't let go of the lance!" Tetra said. Link slid down to Kabora, who was flapping wildly to try and get the painful lance out of its back, and he almost felt sorry for it... if it didn't try to eat and kill him before. He pulled out his sword and stabbed downwards, piercing the feathers and skin and giving Kabora all the more reason to screech in pain. Link slashed and stabbed in all the places his range allowed, and when he felt the lance was about to give in, he climbed up to hold on to the chains.

Kabora's flight patterns went past erratic and into downright desperate. Fortunately for the masked owl, that meant it was hard to pinpoint a good latching point for Tetra. Kabora flew to the cold region again and began purposely crashing into some of the soft mounds of snow, trying to find a way to soothe the pain on its body. This only allowed Tetra, Link and Roc to have an easier to track red trail towards their target. Link decided to pull out the Deku Nuts and try his luck with them. Roc descended to get near a writhing Kabora, and Link, held on to his feet by Tetra, began lobbing Deku Nuts at the owl. The nuts did not stun Kabora, but they seemed to have a strange calming effect on the brown bird to steady up long enough to be mounted again. Tetra got the idea and launched the Chained Lance again, reeling Kabora up to Roc's sharp beak. Link took over the chains as Tetra joined Roc in giving Kabora a good pummeling.

Before the lance gave in fully, though, Kabora gave out one elongated agonizing screech before going limp. The Chained Lance slipped off its body, and the brown bird fell down to the ground with a loud thud. Roc floated in place for a few seconds before deciding to fly down and check things from up close. Besides the fact that Kabora laid immobile, it happened to land on its belly, leaving the chest below a ton of meat and feathers, leaving Tetra and Link to wonder how they were supposed to move that thing. Before they even tried to get down from Roc and come up with suggestions, though, Kabora gave a sudden jolt and stood on its feet, looking positively furious at its attackers, an effect greatly enhanced by its fresh face scar. With some quick pecks and wing swipes, Kabora began attacking Roc and trying to avoid letting the half-vulture to take flight. Roc's relative freshness, however, let it distance itself enough from Kabora to fly off at high speeds and avoid the vicious attack.

"Oh, no." Tetra whimpered as she took a look back. "Faster, Roc! That owl's right behind us!"

Roc flew incredibly fast, to the only place it knew of safety: Spectacle Mountain. Roc did a formidable job, but Kabora started to gain on them. At this rate, Kabora would knock them off the air before they reached sanctuary. Link decided it was time to act, and outfitted himself to his green Magical Glove and pulled out his bow. He then took out his remaining arrow and, after much deliberation, decided to power it with ice. "Ice?" Tetra questioned. "In case you were wondering, we're above tons of ice. Heck, the owl bathed itself on it! What will that do?"

Still, Link did not waver, and instead waited patiently for the perfect opportunity. Kabora began screeching loudly, opening its curved beak wide as if trying to prove a point. Link took aim and waited until Kabora was closer. He needed to take the perfect shot, for he knew there wasn't room for error here.

Kabora's beak opened, screeched, and closed. Link waited.

Kabora's beak opened, screeched, and closed. Link took aim.

Kabora's beak opened, screeched, and closed. Link let go of the arrow.

Kabora's beak opened... but no sound came out, except for some weak coughs. Kabora felt the icy arrow go inside its throat and lodge itself on its insides. Kabora's insides were turning to ice, cracking and breaking at every involuntary twitch. Before long, Kabora was going on a dive, impulsed forward solely by inertia, and heading straight towards the mountain. With one final loud crack, Kabora crashed right on the mountainside before sliding off into the abyss, but not before relinquishing the chest, which was launched to the skies for a while before Roc caught it in midair. Amid the crash, a Heart Container flew upwards and landed right between Link and Tetra.

* * *

"I never get tired of this sight." Nudge commented with a smile on his face as the chest was opened, revealing loads of rupees that shone brightly with the sun. Atop the rupees, a couple of yellowed papers were laying, apparently unharmed by the snow or the constant shuffling around. "Miss Tetra, I believe you would want these." Nudge said while giving the pages to their captain.

"Well, I'm glad we're done here," Senza said, "but the way we are right now, would we survive the cold? We need a better way to get outta this place."

Tetra pondered this problem for a second, then turned her gaze towards the ceiling. Roc seemed to mimmick her motions as their eyes fixated on the Miniblin-filled net. She gave it some thought for a few seconds before looking back at the pirates with a big grin on her face.

"Wait..." Niko pleaded, fearful for what may come. "No. No. No, no, no, no..."

...

"!!!!!"

Soaring the skies above the snowy regions of New Hyrule, Roc advanced south in the company of Link and Tetra, who were mounted on top of the gentle bird. Roc also had its feet securely tightened on two important things: The chest on one, and on the other the net, this time filled with six unruly pirates.

"I feel like bad cargo." Niko complained.

"Don't worry." Senza consoled the poor pirate. "At least things are not worse."

"I'm gonna vom..." Zuko said while covering his mouth with his hands.

"... And now they just got worse." Senza finished apologetically.

* * *

The sight of Tetra enjoying the magnificent, once-in-a-lifetime trip through the skies was something that Link seemed to enjoy more than the very trip itself. However, he was not alone in witnessing this. On a darkened chamber, where the only light came out of a purple flame that projected Tetra's current endeavors, two small, sinister figures stood and watched intently at the only source of light, their faces drawn in a malevolent grin.

"Yes, that's right, Princess."

"Keep collecting the missing pages, Princess."

"Keep learning your heritage, Princess."

"You are doing well, Princess."

"In due time, we will meet."

"In due time, you will have no choice."

"You will learn everything."

"You will finally know... the truth."

"Gwee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!"

"Gwee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!"

**To Be Continued**

(A/N: I'll be bold now and call any and all artists who are willing to draw TWW and ZOoL art. Details on my profile.)


	13. Seas of Memories

Warning: REVIEW ANSWERIN' time can cause head asploding. Proceed with caution:

[NAME UNKNOWN (lilgreenfox? Is that you?)]: About the art, of course you can upload it to DeviantART first. In fact, that would be the preferred method (be it DeviantART, Photobucket, My Space, etc.), so I can link and recommend your art in the video description. On your comments, Thanks for your kind words, though I know I have a long way to go. I did try to make the previous chapter quite good, what with the boss pestering from the get-go and all. And I also tend to pull stuff outta nowhere as well. Hence, this chapter.

Shadows of brilliance: Good review as usual.

_The Legend of Zelda_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 13:

Seas of Memories

"LINK!"

The young hero woke up from his mid-day slumber in a snap. The shock of the sudden call made him stumble across the crow's nest, which made him trip backwards over the guardrail to fall over the pirate ship's sail, rolling down several times before having his leg stuck on a loose rope and free-falling down to the ground until the rope stopped his fall mere feet before meeting the wooden floor. As he swiveled helplessly upside down, the all-too-familiar frame of a certain golden-blonde pirate princess approached him.

"Just so you know, I called you three times." Tetra addressed a hanging Link, in a rather annoyed tone. "Now cut yourself loose. You're late." And with no further explanation, Tetra about-faced and headed for the lower decks.

Late for what, Link wondered. He would've definitely heard if there was a reunion sometime in the day. Then again, he was catching up on some much-needed sleep time, so he probably missed any announcements on the matter. Well, when Tetra looked like she looked just then, Link knew it wasn't wise to keep her waiting, so he cut himself loose with his sword. Afterwards, he wobbled to the door leading below deck with a massive headache.

* * *

"Gentlemen, good news." Tetra began speaking as everybody sat down on the table at the mess hall, which served today as their meeting room.

"You mean besides our generous paychecks?" Nudge commented, beaming over his very fat rupee bag.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Tetra said, nodding at Nudge and recognizing his giddiness. "I have been making a bit of a comparison between the Ancient Hyrulian Book and the pages we've recovered, and if my calculations are correct, we're only four pages away from restoring the book back to its former glory."

"So the book's almost complete?" Senza asked to confirm, to which Tetra nodded. "Well, that's great, Miss Tetra."

"I'll admit that when you first told us this, I thought it was gonna be an impossible mission." Nudge spoke out. "But now we're just steps away from reality."

"So, do we know which place to go next?" Mako asked.

"Nah." Tetra answered plainly. "The Compass of the Goddesses can sometimes go on for days without pointing anywhere. I've gotten used to it, and when the time comes, I'll be sure to tell you."

"But... have you tried using your mystical powers?" Gonzo proposed.

Tetra's eyes widened as her mouth managed to remain closed tightly. She looked around the table at their curious faces, and it seemed like her iris was shrinking more and more. "Eh... Moving on." she finally said, deciding to focus instead on some other matter. "Our last expedition left us a bit on the red, so if you can make some small donations to keep our home shipshape..."

This was met with some general groaning by the pirates, who were hesitant to pull out rupees from their bags. "I knew this was a bit too generous..." Nudge complained.

"Oh, speaking of that last trip." Mako interjected. "Have you had any time to read through the pages that were found?"

Tetra felt once again like they were hounding her. "Well... I try to keep up with everything that's written on the book, and I try to put everything to practice, so..."

"Yeah, remember that one practice we did on table manners?" Senza commented.

"Do I ever!" Nudge concurred.

_--ONCE AGAIN, IT'S FLASHBACK TIME!--_

"So why are there so many different spoons and forks and knives?" Niko wondered when he saw the mess of cutlery in front of him. "I don't have so many hands."

"They're supposed to be used in different parts of the meal." Tetra tried to explain, while still looking over the pages of the Hyrulian Book to try and understand which spoon did what. "Now, this is a soup spoon... or is it a tea spoon? So then what will this other spoon do?"

"And what about this knife?" Nudge asked, picking up a small, completely dull piece of cutlery that was somewhat rectangular in its supposed sharp side.

"That would be... a butter knife." Tetra explained.

"Oh, so they can only cut through butter and stuff..." Niko said, probing the butter knife and proving it did not harm him at all. "Nice, this is like the politically correct dagger." Then, on a whim, Niko got atop the table and pointed at Nudge with the butter knife. "Avast, usurper of the throne, surrender, or feel the cold steel of my worthless dagger!"

Nudge was taken aback for a second. He rebounded rather quickly, however, and hopped on top of the table as well, wielding his own butter knife at Niko. "Not before you taste MY butter, knave!" Nudge boasted playfully. Suddenly, the two were locked in a fierce butter knife battle, and the other pirates were cheering them on, with the clear exception of Tetra... and Mako, that is, who made his way up the table and held both their hands. "Stop it, you two. You're being ridiculous." Mako scolded the two, much to the anger of the crowd. Mako, however, took a nearby butter knife and held it in a more combative way. "THIS is how you hold a dagger." He said, letting go of them and seeing them hold the butter knives better. "Now you may fight." Mako announced, leaving the table and joining the rest of the male pirates in egging on the two guys atop the table. Only Tetra wasn't joining in, burying her head on her hands in shame and anger.

_--END FLASHBACK!--_

"WILL YOU STOP REMEMBERING THAT?!" Tetra yelled, having turned red in anger over her botched attempt to do something straight off the book. "Anyway, I've yet to read the more recent pages, so..."

"How about now...?" Zuko suggested, to which the other pirates concurred.

"Hmm.." Tetra thought about it for a few moments before looking forward and deciding. "Well, why not. Let's see here." She went through the papers and found the most recent ones in the bottom. "'Queens and Princesses through the history of Hyrule'. Interesting..." Tetra commented. She saw a description on top, followed by a list of names. Tetra decided to go straight to the names first. "Queen Zelda Lyna Hyrule. Princess Zelda Regina Hyrule. Princess Karin Zelda til Hyrule. Queen Zelda Dianne Hyrule. Princess Zelda Dianne Hyrule the second. Princess Valerinia Zelda til Hyr... wait a minute..." Tetra let go of the loose page as she tried to comprehend what was going on. She rubbed her temples and breathed in as she tried to go on. "Queen Zelda Mercury Hyrule, Princess Zelda Josselyn Hyrule, Queen Zelda Alexandria Hyrule, Princess Zelda Marine Hyrule, Princess Zelda Camillix Hyrule... What is going on here? Is this a joke?"

The pirates seemed as perplexed (or at least, as lost) as Tetra was. Not only did the royal line seemed longer than they had predicted, there was a certain odd common denominator in there. Mako decided to relief Tetra off the paper and began reading the description on top. "Hmm... 'It is tradition for the princesses who are to be next in line to be named Zelda after the first queen of Hyrule. In order to retain individualism, the female monarchs have been commonly given a second name, though to the general public, they are only referred to as Princess Zelda or Queen Zelda. Although it is encouraged for other princesses within the main royal line to bear the name, it is not obligatory.'" Mako read.

"Well, that is messed up." Gonzo commented. "So every one of those women were just called 'Princess Zelda-Something-Hyrule'."

"Strange..." Senza spoke out. "I've been here since you were born, Miss Tetra, and I don't remember anybody calling you anything other than Tetra. Not even your mother called you by any other name."

"Maybe Tetra's just a code name!" Niko ran his theory. "Or maybe Tetra's your middle name, captain, like 'Zelda Tetra Hyrule'."

"Yeah... that really makes sense..." Zuko commented sarcastically. "... or not."

"This list goes on, you know." Mako announced. "And they're written in different handwriting, so they were probably keeping it for generations afterwards." Mako then began looking at the more recent entries in the list, and read them aloud. "Queen Zelda Emelina Hyrule, Princess Zelda Chere Hyrule, Princess Zelda Wendelia Hyrule, Princess -they're all pretty much princesses after this point- Princess Zelda Onnise Hyrule, Princess Zelda Reldam Hyrule, Princess Zelda Jacqueline Hyrule, Princess... huh?'

"What? What does it say?" Gonzo wondered.

"Nothing..." Mako responded. "It just says 'Princess' and the rest is just one big blank. My guess, Miss Tetra,..." he said while looking at the captain square in the eye, "... this is where your name should be."

"So? Just write it, then." Tetra ordered.

"Write what, exactly?" Mako rebutted. "Virtually every name on the list follows the same design. There may be something here we don't yet know."

"Wait..." Gonzo interrupted, looking like he's made a big discovery. "Mako, read that last one again."

"What? Princess Blankety-blank, A.K.A. Miss Tetra?" Nudge questioned.

"No, the one before that." Gonzo reiterated, getting a bit annoyed.

"You mean... Princess Zelda Jacqueline Hyrule?" Mako said. "What about... wait, 'Jacqueline'?"

"Is that...? could that be...?" Senza tried to utter the complete question.

"Yes, no doubt it's her." Gonzo explained.

"Madam Jacques!" Zuko said, rather impressed (well, by his standards) "Our previous captain..."

"My mother?" Tetra asked, bewildered at the discovery. She quickly took the paper from Mako's hand and inspected it on her own. "Princess Zelda Jacqueline... and on her handwriting, too. This means she must've known. She knew all along."

"Well, she DID gave you that golden 'A', and we all know how that turned out." Senza pointed out, which made Tetra rub her right hand uneasily.

"But wait." Nudge interjected again. "Madam Jacques was old enough to be queen... so why is she written there as 'Princess'?"

"Must you ask such a silly question?" Mako rebutted. "Think, no Hyrule, no kingdom, no need for coronation. Naturally, then, that every heir since the Great Flood has been stuck in Princess Mode. Now, what's more important is that we figure out whether Miss Tetra has a proper Princess name."

"How are we gonna figure that one out?" Tetra questioned. "I specifically remember being called nothing other than Tetra through my life, and there's nothing anywhere else to tell us otherwise."

"How about birth records?" Niko suggested.

"As if!" Tetra scoffed at the mere suggestion. "I was born of the sea! And I doubt we'd get any old schmo in the sea to write up a birth record."

"... Unless it's Beedle." Nudge added, making everybody laugh instantly.

"Ok, seriously, though." Tetra spoke again. "I was born in this very ship. I doubt I have any birth certificates around."

"Eh... actually..." Senza raised his arm sheepishly. "I remember those days. We were in Windfall for a whole week, and you were born then. There was a doctor and everything, so maybe... just maybe... a birth certificate does exist somewhere."

"Wait a minute... I was born in Windfall?" Tetra questioned, incredulous over this revelation. The five oldest pirates nodded once. "Why didn't I know this? People, this stuff is kinda important to me. You could at least try and make sure I know." She flopped on her seat cross-armed and started looking at everybody with a rather bad eye. "So..." she continued, "... let's say I do have a birth certificate somewhere, where could it be today?"

"Your mother must've had it hidden." Mako suggested.

"Yeah, that works." Senza concurred. His face then slowly turned less and less confident. "Only we cleared the captain's quarters of her personal stuff when you took over, Miss Tetra. We took it all away and stuffed it in a crate."

"And where, pray tell, would that crate be?" Tetra asked as she held a fist in the other hand, possibly waiting for the worst.

"Oh, it's still on the ship, I'm sure." Senza explained. "It's probably hidden behind a lot of other crates on the cargo hold, so you never really saw it."

"Well, that's a relief." Tetra smiled brightly as she spoke. "I thought I had to send you guys on a rowboat to retrieve the crate from a faraway island." The faces of the pirates dropped significantly, particularly disturbed by Tetra's incessant beaming. "So I guess that's settled then. Our next scavenger hunt will be right here on this ship. Everybody to the cargo hold!"

Upon hearing this, Link suddenly got active again and shot out of the mess hall, decided to beat the rest to finding the previous captain's things first. "Poor kid." Gonzo commented to the equally burly Senza. "He thinks he can move all those heavy crates all by hims..."

Suddenly, a huge wooden crash was heard all the way to the mess hall, making the pirates shut up and look at each other with frightful eyes.

"Whoa, Link! Calm down, boy!" Nudge screamed as he and the rest of the crew rushed out of the mess hall.

* * *

The pirates worked hard all day, moving crates and barrels around the cargo hold. They didn't really know they had so many crates (many of them only half full or nearly empty) until they did this massive cleanup event. The pirates were trying to focus more on the older crates, the crates that were hidden under the newer-looking ones and seemed like nobody had touched them in a while. Sadly for them, this scratched very few crates off the list.

"This is gonna take us forever." Niko complained as he rubbed his poor muscles from excessive strain.

"Don't worry." Senza reassured the poor young pirate. "If my memory doesn't fail me, we'll be able to easily notice Madam Jacques' stuff. It was pretty much the last things we got in that crate."

Link, Nudge and Tetra were working on a rickety old crate in the corner (which had a rusty lock to boot), when a sudden shove by Nudge made it sound like some glass object broke inside. "Let's just hope that wasn't anything valuable, for your sake." Tetra threatened, to which Nudge simply nodded frightfully. Eventually, the lock was broken, and the crate's contents were exposed.

"Is this...?" Tetra stopped mid-sentence as she appreciated the long object that was at the very top of the pile of stuff in the crate. "My mom's cutlass." She carefully grabbed the rather large black sheath and took out the blade to admire it more. "Still as beautifully crafted and as sharp as I last saw it." She marveled at the spectacular shine and composition of the blade, silverish in color, adorned with strange markings all along the length of the blade. Its hilt was a dark bronze, rather comfortable and easy to grasp, and it was adorned on the tip by a golden chain that held a golden triangle on its end. Tetra fixated her eyes on every part of the cutlass, a nostalgic look permeating her face, until she took a good look at the markings on the blade, then, she gasped audibly. "Link! You know what these are?" Tetra shouted, shoving the blade's blunt side at a dangerously close position from Link's eyes. "It's the same writing I saw in the book sometimes. This is old Hylian writing! I don't know what it says yet..." She admitted, inspecting the sword to see if she recognized any of the signs, "... but at least it tells me more about my mom."

"Well, that IS great. I'm happy for you, captain." Nudge complimented as he reclined himself on the rickety old crate... which made it create various strained creaking sounds. Nudge quickly stepped back form the crate, but it was too late: the crate's sides gave in, unleashing everything inside in a perilous avalanche of debris. Tetra had no time to react, and the rolling objects got trampled under her jittery feet, making her slip and crash on the floor by the side of her head. The last she heard were the panicked cries of her crew.

* * *

Tetra opened her eyes lazily, her eyes unfamiliar with the bright shine of the sunlight. She began looking around, and noticed she had been dragged to her bed. This was definitely not where she had slipped into sleep, she remembered. She threw her bedsheets aside and sat on her bed before she remembered that there was something important happening today. And when she remembered exactly what was going on, she whipped out the widest toothy grin she could muster.

"Today's the day." She whispered to herself. "Today's the day!" She then yelled at the top of her lungs while hopping on her own bed a few times. She then began running wildly across her room. "Today's the day! Today's the day! Today's the day! Today's the day! Today's the day! Today's the day! Today's the... oof!"

Tetra did not see the tall lady in red and white clothes enter the room. "What day would today be, Miss Tetra?"

"Don't be silly, Pami." Tetra responded to the large, muscular woman over double her height, about as tan as her, with striking red eyes and silver hair done in a ponytail. "You know that today is my birthday!"

"Your birthday?" Pami asked in a mock-quizzical way. "And how old is the young miss today?"

"I'm seven years old today!" Tetra announced beaming, raising eight fingers from her tiny hands. Pami reached and lowered a pinky for her.

"And, what does this all mean, young miss?" Pami kept asking.

Tetra's head turned around, as if she was trying to find the answer somewhere. Finally, she faced Pami and beamed at her. "That I'm seven years old today!" She said while raising six fingers from her hands. Pami reached and raised a pinky for her.

"Well... yes." Pami said, giving in on her charge's explanations "But it also means that you're finally old enough to begin your sword training. So let's start today."

"Oh, yeah... About that..." Tetra said hesitantly, lowering her gaze to the ground. "Hey, Pami? Why don't we wait till tomorrow to begin? You know, since it's my birthday, and there'll probably be cake and presents and stuff. We won't have time to get a decent practice in, anyway."

"No can do, Miss Tetra." Pami said stoically. "Madam Jacques' orders. She wants you to start as soon as possible."

"Mom?" Tetra wondered. "Why? It's not like I'll need it anytime soon. Besides, I don't like them."

"You don't...?" Pami was taken aback at this statement. "Miss, I've seen you ogle at Madam Jacques' cutlass, and if she didn't hide it well at night, you'd probably go around with it."

Tetra turned her face over to the side, putting a pouty face like one who would rather not face the music. "I might have... on that time. But... now it's different."

"Come on, Miss Tetra." Pami called, kneeling in an attempt to be level with the young girl. "What exactly is wrong?"

"Well... it was that last time." Tetra explained. "I saw Mako get hurt with his sabre and blood came out of his wound... I don't want that to happen to me."

Pami laughed slightly at this. "First off, Mako isn't the best when it comes to fencing. In fact, you should be thankful he's gotten better over time. Second, if you're gonna get squeamish with a bit of blood, then you were born on the wrong ship. And third, this is just practice. I'm not gonna let you get hurt, see?" She then pulled out a small wooden sword from her back and showed it to Tetra.

The small girl looked intently at the wooden sword and touched its sides, and after noticing how it didn't hurt her at all, she beamed at her instructor. "You really think of everything, Pami."

"Don't I always?" Pami responded, pulling a sly smile. "Now change your clothes, you need to get some breakfast in."

After an intense and informative initial training session, Tetra and Pami decided to raid the mess hall for a couple of cookies. They then sneaked to the cargo hold and quietly enjoyed their snack.

"You did good for a first time." Pami complimented the spunky girl.

"Don't be so nice." Tetra quickly shot back. "the sword slipped from my hand. Twice. I hit you on your thigh in one of those."

"Well, then, you're lucky I'm made of tougher stuff than most!" Pami joked. "besides, nobody will be perfect on the first time."

"But you make it look so easy!" Tetra complained.

"Well, that's only because I've been practicing for years." Pami explained. "I've honed in skills that I once thought impossible when I first began practicing."

Tetra nodded in silence, preferring to savor more of her cookie in silence for a moment. "But when is mom coming back? She's gonna miss my whole birthday!"

"Well, it's not her fault you're such a sleepy-head." Pami commented, making Tetra do a mock-pout. "If you'd woken up sooner, you could've talked to her before she left for Windfall."

"And what is she doing all the way in Windfall today?" Tetra inquired yet again.

"I've told you, little one." Pami said. "I cannot tell you. Madam Jacques told me to not tell. And I'm not just about to go against a direct order from my captain, you know. That would look bad."

"Come on!" Tetra pleaded. "Not even for me?"

"Sorry, Miss Tetra, but especially not to you." Pami said, with a firm finality on her voice.

"Ok, fine." Tetra declared, standing up from the floor. She dusted herself off and started walking away from Pami. "If you're not telling, then I'm sure someone in this ship will. I am the captain's daughter, and I will get answers. Especially on my seventh birthday." And with those words, she disappeared from view.

"Well, if you find someone who knows, let me know." Pami said quietly before returning to her cookie.

On the top deck, a young man in a green shirt and a red handkerchief on his head full of black hair was having a hard time swabbing the deck. Apparently, somebody had spilled a barrel full of ink last night, and it was becoming an incredibly hard hassle to clean it up. "If Madam Jacques ever decides to transport ink again, I'm steering clear off the mop!" He stated as he mopped furiously in a vain attempt to finish up faster.

"Hey, Gonzo!" a youthful voice rang from beside the man. "I was just wondering if you knew if... what happened here?" Tetra asked, distracted by the large black stain on the floor.

"Ink. Don't ask." Gonzo answered, obviously annoyed by the hard work.

Tetra looked intently as the hard-working pirate raised the already pitch-black mop and squeezed its contents into a bucket full of black water, only to insert the mop into the very same water. "Shouldn't you get some clean water for it?" Tetra wondered.

"This IS clean." Gonzo began to explain. "That..." Gonzo then showed her a bucket of water that was so thick it looked more like tar than anything else. "is dirty."

"Ew..." Tetra exclaimed her honest feeling, Suddenly, she remembered what she was dpoing over there in the first place. "Oh! Gonzo, do you know where my mom went?"

"Madam Jacques?" Gonzo repeated, not really bothering to look anywhere other than at the mess he was charged with cleaning. "Well, I know she went over to Windfall. What is she doing in Windfall, I don't know. She's bound to do some brash things and doesn't really speak of some stuff beforehand. But if she's just gone like that, then you needn't worry, 'cause if it were something important for the crew to know, we would've had a reunion."

"Oh, I see." Tetra said, nodding her head slowly. She stood there for a small while, watching Gonzo doing his duty and trying to do his best with what little he had to work with. Due to his amazing display of effort, the ink stain was slowly becoming fainter and fainter. "Wow, you're working hard, Gonzo."

"Thanks, Miss Tetra." Gonzo said as he took a small breather to wipe his forehead off sweat. "I doubt I'll be finished today, though." He commented as he contemplated the true scope of the stain.

"Oh, don't worry." Tetra reassured the black-haired pirate. "You've done a mighty good job here. And if anything happens, I can put up a good word for you to my mom. She'll listen to me. And with today being my birthday and all..."

"Today's your birthday?" Gonzo asked, finally taking a quick glance at the young girl beside him. His eyes shifted suspiciously as he tried to put the pieces together. "So maybe that's why she..."

"'Why she' what?" Tetra inquired, feeling this might have something to do with her mother. "Do you think my mom is doing something specific at Windfall?"

"Well, I was thinking, since Windfall is a merchant island, and since it's your birthday, after all, she..." Suddenly, Gonzo voice was reduced down to a stammer, his eyes bulged out of his sockets, and he began fidgeting with the mop handle nervously. He then fixated his sights down to the floor again, and began mopping with even more intent. "Eh... I mean to say... Madam Jacques is probably scouring a tip nearby and... she'll tell us if she finds something... maybe. Yes, that's it."

Tetra was about to ask him about his sudden change of heart, but she noticed how his incredibly concentrated form intensified, and decided to leave him be. When she turned around, though, she noticed how Pami was just entering the lower decks slowly, but not before shooting a quick glance backwards to where Gonzo was. Tetra thought it weird, and sighed in defeat, realizing the futility of her quest at this point.

Pami scoured the top deck, making sure there was nobody around. She looked behind the crates, atop the crow's nest, and even on the ship's outer walls, and when she was satisfied, she turned on a flare and waved it at a nearby island. After the signal, a small rowboat began making its way to the pirate ship. Inside the rowboat, a woman in a red captain's vest lined with golden borders and an equally colored captain's hat waved at Pami when she got close enough, which prompted the tall woman to throw a rope ladder to let the woman aboard.

"Madam Jacques." Pami addressed the woman who, despite being shorter than Pami and of a noticeably less muscular build, exuded a dignified air of authority. "I trust everything went well."

"It sure did. Thank you, Pami." Madam Jacques told her first mate. She then took off her hat, uncovering a long, flowing brunette hair and letting her blue eyes sparkle with the sunlight. "I trust there were no problems in my absence."

"Everything is shipshape, captain." Pami informed. She then looked around again to make sure there was nobody around, and addressed Jacques again. "So? What did you get her?" she whispered, dropping her more formal attitude in favor of an unyielding curiosity.

"Just a little something." Jacques said as she raised a small square chest closer to Pami's eyes and opened it. After looking into the small chest, Pami drew up a small satisfactory smile on her face and nodded in understanding.

"I think she's gonna like it." Pami commented.

"So where is she?" Jacques asked, wondering if there was a way to slip unnoticed.

"I'm sure she oughta be in the cabins now." Pami gave an educated guess. "The guys have been going on about stories today, and you know how she loves hearing them."

"Well, good. That gives me time." Jacques said as she began walking toward the lower decks. "If you see her, stall her. Don't let her enter the mess hall, ok?"

"Aye, aye." Pami responded. After seeing her captain enter the lower decks, she took a precautionary look around the ship again, and then entered the ship's interiors herself.

And from within a barrel hole, a small sly blue eye witnessed the entire encounter with rasp attention and giddy excitement.

"Miss Tetra?" a squat pirate with thick-rimmed glasses called out the small girl after noticing how she was running left and right around the cargo hold, rearranging several items such as rope, gloves, a small telescope and a few pieces of wood. "Can I ask what you're doing?"

"No can do, Mako." Tetra answered quickly as she rummaged through yet another crate for more rope. "Unless you're willing to help me quietly."

"Oh, I don't know..." Mako hesitated upon hearing the request. "Does Madam Jacques know about this?"

"Of course she doesn't!" Tetra said with a smile plastered on her face. "That's what makes it so fun. Besides, that's exactly the point here, she can't know I'm doing this."

Mako looked at the small girl as if she were asking for something impossible. After thinking it over a few moments, he finally answered. "I'm sorry, Miss Tetra, but I cannot cooperate wit you here. If Madam Jacques finds out, I'm gonna get in trouble, and I don't need that. So while I'd prefer for you to just stop and forget about this, I'll just leave you and wish you good luck doing this on your own." And with those words, Mako began walking away form the cargo hold.

"Well, ok." Tetra said casually, then: "How you doing over there, Nudge?"

"Perfect!" a rather high-pitched voice rang from behind some barrels. Mako quickly turned around and cranked his head to notice a long pirate with neck-length hair and a soul patch closing up a couple of heavy bags that looked filled with sand. "These sand bags will give us the perfect counterweight. Now all we need to do is bring everything upstairs."

Tetra gave a giddy laugh as she saw her little plan come to fruition. "All right! To the top deck it is! Mom thinks she can surprise me, but I'll be the one to surprise her!" And taking a good deal of rope and the wood in her hands, she left the cargo hold, leaving Mako standing on the door frame slack-jawed.

"Oh, I just love this!" Nudge said to Mako as he followed behind the young 'leader', carrying a sack of sand in each shoulder. "You know, you gotta admire her initiative. She's got the makings of a true leader, she does."

After Nudge disappeared from view, Mako stood dumbfounded for a good while on the very door frame to the cargo hold. Finally snapping into reality, the thick-glassed pirate sighed deeply as he held his head with his fingers. "The less I know... the better." He said to himself.

The mess hall looked like a completely different area once Madam Jacques finished rearranging it along with Gonzo and Senza. The table was set near a wall, adorned with a green tablecloth patched in several places with some odd color combinations, atop it were a couple of plates and a couple of jugs filled with juice ("No liquor today!" Jacques declared), and on the center there was a long cardboard box and a square chest right behind the box. The walls were decorated with streamers and a couple of balloons, and the whole place reeked of festive. "Okay, everything's set. Gonzo, go and get everyone. Tell Pami to make sure Tetra's last. Senza, go check on the cuccoo in the oven."

"Aye, aye" both pirates said in unison and left to do their assigned duties.

After a short while, almost everyone was in the mess hall, anxious to begin the celebration. The only people missing were Nudge, Pami and Tetra. The pirates in the mess hall breathed an air of quiet tension, shifting along awkwardly in an attempt to simmer down and not ruin the surprise.

"I swear, if that Nudge ruins this, I'll get him good." Gonzo whispered to the next pirate beside him.

"I'll make sure he's punished properly If he does." A strong, female voice came from behind them. When they looked, they saw the stern face of Madam Jacques staring at him. "Now shhhh." She finished while she moved to another location. The pirates, in their silence, could not help but stifle a laugh considering the punishments Jacques could come up with.

"I know nothing..." Mako muttered to himself when, despite trying his best to remain outside of the crowd, had to suffer Madam Jacques' stare for all of one second.

"Guys, someone..." Zuko, in all his stoic, baggy-eyed glory, told the rest of the crew. "It's Pami..."

"Quick, blow out the lamps. Cover the window. Quiet down, everyone."

The pirates made a hiding place of the very darkness in the mess hall, standing eerily still, and waiting for Pami to arrive with the person of honor. Through the corner of their eyes, most could see how Pami's shadow closed in on the entryway. They were more than ready to jump out and begin in an explosive way, when...

"Madam Jacques!"

Pami's sudden shout made everybody stop in mid-action. The female first mate appeared into the decorated room, a mild hint of frustration on her normally fiery red eyes, though the rest of her factions were still expertly locked on a stoic form, and approached her captain, who looked at her weirdly. Trying not to make a scene, Pami decided to speak to Jacques in a whisper and avoid the rest of the pirates to find out.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU CAN'T FIND HER!?" Jacques' sudden angered yell startled everyone in the room.

"I checked everywhere." Pami said, knowing it was futile to try and keep things secret. "The cargo hold, the cabins, your room, the top deck... I didn't find her."

Jacques rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Oh, where could that child be?" She paced around the room, thinking about what he should do... when suddenly, there was a loud bump on the wall of the mess hall. "What was that? Quick, check the window." She ordered. Gonzo quickly removed the curtain that covered the window and looked outside, only to emit a short, high-pitched scream and dive to the side. Suddenly, the window was slammed open and a small golden-blond girl appeared as if from nowhere, landing face-first on the floor with arms spread out and feet twitching randomly.

"Surprise!" Tetra's muffled shout greeted the stupefied pirates.

"Tetra!" Madam Jacques scolded her daughter for bringing such a spectacle. "W... what is all this?"

"Come on, mom." Tetra defended herself as she began to pick herself off from the floor. "You haven't been able to surprise me ever since I was four and a half. Everything was just too suspicious today: leaving early, Pami's lessons, keeping Gonzo in the dark, clearing the top deck so nobody saw you arriving... You really need to work on your stealth game."

Jacques noticed the playful tone in which Tetra adorned every word in her innocent-like rebuttal, and was willing to let her off with a smile... if it weren't for the inescapable fact that the girl had just burst in through the window, meaning she had been dangling by the side of the ship with little more than a rope. "That... may be true... but the window! Did you even think this through?"

"Oh, don't worry, mom." Tetra reassured her mother. "I had Nudge to help me. He made sure I was ok every step of the way."

"Oh, so _Nudge_ helped you." Jacques said loudly with a sly smile on her face, emphasizing on the name. Three seconds later, a large splash was heard from outside, followed by very rapid splish-splooshing of someone swimming away. "He'll be back." Jacques finished.

After the incident, the birthday party had passed relatively peacefully (at least, as peaceful as a pirate party could get) and it extended until the sun hid behind the horizon and the moon began its patient vigil. Tetra did not want it to end, but alas, as Pami so painfully informed her, it was already time for her to sleep.

"We'll continue your lessons tomorrow, Miss Tetra." Pami told the small girl.

"So they're for real, then." Tetra acknowledged the seriousness of Pami's words and nodded. "Tomorrow then. Good night."

"Sleep well. You too, Madam Jacques." Pami said before leaving the captain's quarters.

"Well, in you go, you little troublemaker." Madam Jacques said as she picked up Tetra like a baby, who began giggling and screaming at every swing and dip her mother subjected her to before finally being deposited on her bed. "So, are we ready?"

"Wait! Not yet." Tetra raised her arms to stop her mother from tucking her in. She went to her cabinet and pulled out the small square chest she had received in her party and opened it. Inside the chest were three crudely colored pictographs of Madam Jacques and Tetra together in various stages of the little one's life, and carved on the inner side of the chest's lid was the message: _'To the most precious treasure a mother could ever have. Happy Birthday, Tetra. Love, Mom.'_ Tetra then set the open chest on a table and set the three pictographs on the wall by her bed. "There. Now I can look at them all the time."

Tetra then lay flat on the bed, signaling to her mother that she was ready to sleep. Madam Jacques pulled out a quilt and wrapped her daughter in it, and then knelt by Tetra's bed and kissed her forehead.

"So now you're seven, aren't you, Tee?" Jacques asked her daughter playfully, calling her by her preferred nickname. "You know that means you'll soon be a young lady, and you will eventually take control of this ship when I'm too old to be captain."

"Oh, but you're still young, mom!" Tetra replied.

Jacques couldn't help but laugh at that comment. "That I am, yes siree." she said, beaming all the way. "But still, you have to start learning some deep stuff."

"Aw, mom." Tetra whined immediately. "Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"But I wanted to tell you something special. You know, since it's still your birthday and all." Jacques told Tetra. The small girl turned to her mother in order to be more attentive. "Now, Tee, I only want you to know that you have more potential than you can imagine. There is something about you that you probably wouldn't understand now, but in due time you'll discover. It's something great, but at the same time very scary, and should you stumble on it one day, know that there is one thing you should never do."

"... What, mom?" Tetra asked, not completely sure what her mother was talking to her about. Jacques decided to lean on her and whisper quietly in her ear what she intended to tell her. "Whoa." Tetra reacted. "All this sounds like some sort of weird mumbo jumbo woo-doo thing."

Jacques mused over her daughter's statement for a small while before answering. "Well, I promise you it's not some woo-doo thing."

Tetra then let out a wide yawn out. "Mom?" Tetra asked, her voice showing clear signs of being tired. "Will you be here tomorrow? All day?"

"Hmm... Why not?" Jacques answered. "Like there's anything better than spend the day with you." To this, Tetra raised a fist slightly in victory. "Besides, I don't want you to slack off in your learning. I need to teach you some important stuff." To that, Tetra faced her mother with an face of indignation, followed by a none-too-pleased pouty face. "Don't give me that. Or do you wish to be dumb and lose this ship faster than you could say 'macadamia'?"

Tetra looked at her mother straight at her eyes, still with that pouty face. Even though she knew how stern and tough her mother was, inside those eyes she could always find the love her mother had for her, shining brightly like the Northern Star. "Oh, all right." Tetra finally relented, dropping her facade, and deciding to turn around and get comfortable. "Good night mom."

"Good night, Tee." Jacques said, letting her daughter set sail on the sea of dreams, and finally deciding to journey into that sea herself as she approached her bed right across from Tetra's.

* * *

"M... Mom?" Tetra's groggy words came out laboriously from her mouth as she woke up from her sleep. Her vision was blurry, but she could clearly make out two faces looking down at her. "Mo-o-o-om?" she called again, trying to reach out to someone in front of her.

"I hear and I wonder, what dreams are those that the little miss has dreamt, for in those dreams, many secrets like to hide."

"Huh" Tetra's reaction was all confusion. Her vision started to clear up, which showed a small man with thick-rimmed glasses and a young fellow with a green cap.

"Uh... sorry." Mako quickly apologized. "I read that in a book somewhere."

"Mako?" Tetra asked, recognizing the guy in front of her. The other guy's name was becoming easier to remember after this moment. "L... Link?" The green garbed hero nodded solemnly after hearing his name. "But... where am I? What happened?"

"You can thank Nudge for that." Gonzo explained, appearing from the background. "The clumsy fool leaned on that old crate and broke it, and everything inside it just spilled out. There was some heavy stuff in there, and some of it hit you square in the head. After that, we carefully carried you to your bed in your room. It's been... I'd say 20 minutes since then, give or take."

"And where is Nudge?" Tetra asked, starting to make an effort to sit on her bed and look and everyone square in the face. "And was there stuff from my mother there, not just the cutlass?"

"Oh, Nudge's cleaning the mess now. He'll have to lift the heavy stuff himself." Gonzo replied.

"And about your mother's stuff... we found this." Senza added, carrying around an opened cardboard box, which he put beside Tetra on the bed. Inside the box were various papers, many of them with official-looking signatures and apparently odd data. "I think I saw something like a birth record in there."

"Really?" Tetra mused, looking at the box full of papers beside her. She then faced forward with a stern, serious look. "Did any of you look at this beforehand?"

"Uh, no!" Gonzo quickly said. "We expected you would want to know first, so..."

Tetra nodded in acknowledgment, and without a second thought, began rummaging through the old papers in the box. Some of the papers were nothing more than random scribbles and annotations about treasure, rival pirate bands and whatnot, while some others started showing a more official-looking design that would not be out of place in a government office or, perchance, among royal documents. After a while, she saw it: an old, semi-tattered, but quite sturdy-feeling piece of paper from a Dr. Korvotain with the heading 'BIRTH CERTIFICATE' in it. It read:

_Dr. Marcus Korvotain – General Medicine and Surgery_

_Windfall Island_

_BIRTH CERTIFICATE_

_Medic in charge of operation: Marcus Korvotain_

_Nurse in assistance of operation: Felicia Silvina_

_Matron in assistance of operation: Pami_

_Name of Mother: Zelda Jacqueline Hyrule_

_Name of Father: Not Available_

_Name of Child: Zelda Tetrilynn Hyrule_

_Gender of Child: Female_

_Weight of Child: 7lbs, 10oz_

_Height of Child: 22 inches_

Tetra's mouth slowly opened in silent awe and her hand trembled vigorously as she read the official document carefully and let her mind get past the shock of the recently revealed truth. In the process, the certificate slipped from her hands and landed on the floor, and was then picked up by Mako.

"Zelda Tetrilynn Hyrule." Mako read out loud. "So that is your real name, Miss Tetra. A tad odd, but pretty at the same time."

"Ha! I knew it!" Niko shouted in glee, raising his arms in victory. "I told you all, didn't I?"

"No... you said something dif...[mmph]" Zuko tried to correct Niko before having his mouth covered by the buck-toothed pirate.

"Oh, shut it and let me have my moment!" Niko demanded.

"Tetrilynn..." Tetra repeated, trying to will herself to get used to the name. After thinking over it for a moment, she couldn't help but draw up a smile and let out a slight chuckle. "Oh, mom. I guess you had one final surprise after all."

"So..." Niko began, looking directly at his captain. "Does this mean... we should..."

"I said it before, and I'll say it again." Tetra said, pointing at each one of the guys in her room. "I may be the princess, I may have this mouthful of a name, but I'm still me. You can still call me Tetra, all right? Heck, even after we're all done with this and everybody in the world calls me Princess Zelda and stuff, you guys can still call me Tetra, ok?" Every one around Tetra's bed nodded courteously at this. Link, on his part, seemed curious, and raised his hand to get the young lady's attention. "No, don't you call me Tetrilynn." Tetra said plainly, as If reading Link's thoughts. The young hero dropped his hand and began darting his eyes awkwardly, though sporting a goofy smile.

Link suddenly had a brilliant idea, and thought this moment could use something to top it off. Thus, without explaining himself, he rushed out of the room and ran all the way to the cargo hold. On the hold, he could see how Nudge was still painfully busy in cleaning the place where the old crate was broken, making sure he did not overfill the other crates he was dumping the other stuff in. Off in a corner were two crates set so close together and rebuilt to make one huge extra long box. Link opened the side of the crate and entered the cramped compartment, which looked like a miniature amateur photographic studio from the inside, with several pictographs hanging from the top. Link lit up a red lamp and pulled out his picto box from under a small table and began working on developing the pictographs he had on the device.

It took him quite a while, but finally he had the three pictographs ready for the outside world. He took the pictographs and gave them one final shake to dry them completely, and he took out a postal envelope and carefully inserted the pics inside. He then put out the lamp and opened the side of the elongated crate to leave.

"Fancy meeting you again, pretty boy!" A gruff, ugly snarling voice greeted Link as an equally ugly mug stared him down. The dirty, buff man, who was accompanied by equally dirty and ragtag comrades, grabbed Link by the neck collar and dragged him through the cargo hold's floor, leading him outside. "Ye be the last one of this here pathetic ship, ye know. Captain Mendoza is sure to be pleased."

**To Be Continued**

(A/N: I'm still asking people who are willing to donate art related to TWW, PH and ZOoL. Details on my profile.)

_And before you ask, here's a partial list of middle names I thought up for Tetra (all starting with "T", of course): Tetrina, Tezmily, Tetris, Tetrin, Tervina, Terelin, Terra (Believe it or not!)... I even considered 'Tee' for a short while._


	14. Mind of a Sea Dog

REVIEW ANSWERIN' time. In Esperanto where available:

Trickster's Imagination: I already answered you privately... but if you haven't yet started, you might just wanna read my profile first.

lilgreenfox: Word of warning: Fanfiction (dot) net does bad things to our URLs. Just look how I had to write the URL of this very site. And if it's deviantart you're talking about, I already found you anyway. As I said to Trickster, though, read my profile first if you haven't started yet.

u00dfrady: I feel honored you gave me your very first review on this site. I am glad you've enjoyed my fanfic, and I'm glad to hear your DSi browser worked properly for it. But must you really be against romance fics? (This one isn't romance FOCUSED, true, but it has its moments.) Anyway, I think you might be one of the few who actually get some of my references and shout-outs. I try to sprinkle them everywhere, but most just pass them by. (BTW: Yeah, reviewing can feel weird at times, but I always appreciate it. And you did well for a 2-inch keyboard.) I WILL finish this one, even if it's just for you.

Anon-a-moose: HOLY THROWBACK REVIEWS, Batman! Chapter 4? All right, at that point there was supposed to be confusion, but I thought I made it clear later that it was the eccentric Miyahon that was speaking as he was tailing Link and Tetra. I guess I don't make things clear enough, then. (that's the second time somebody points out something like that, and...)

_The Legend of Zelda_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 14:

The Mind of a Sea Dog

The rough pirate's grip was strong. His big, meaty claws grabbed hold of Link's tunic with great relentless force, and his brutish manners meant that the young lad was dragged helplessly across the hard, wooden floor. He kept sniggering nonsensically, apparently finding joy where Link could not see it, which that was pretty much enough to alert and disturb even the most sturdy of people. And despite the man's strength and total lack of tact, Link was completely taken by surprise when the attack began. His thoughts then moved to Tetra, and he hoped that she was alright, considering her disadvantaged condition. He also thought what kind of dirty trick could these pirates have used to take down six people in one fell swoop.

"'Ere's another 'un." The gruff pirate announced to his partner, throwing his green prisoner right on a wall with great force. "Found 'im inside some boxes. Prolly hidin' as soon as 'e heard us, the coward." Link rubbed his head in an attempt to subdue the sudden pain coursing through him, though the psychological sting was not so easily nursed. He thought of defending himself, but he was unfortunately unarmed, and he knew he was no match for the abnormally large brutes he had the misfortune of being with at the moment. Thus, he thought it smart to just lay low and hope for a chance to slip away soon.

* * *

"Guard! Guard!" A loud female voice rang inside a large rank cell deep in an unkempt lower deck of a large ship. The blond-haired girl grabbed a tight hold over the cell's bars, with fury flushed in every part of her face, and her eyes darting everywhere for the slightest sign of movement. Tetra was incarcerated alone, completely cut off from any of her crew members. What was worse, she had no tools or weapons to try and escape, and they even ripped her sabre away at the first chance. "Guard! I demand attention! What do you gain keeping me here? Why are you doing this? Where is my crew? And why can't I get a decent meal here?" She shouted angrily, kicking a wooden plate with a stale piece of bread and a cup of water. "... Cowards."

"Yer bein' a pain in me ears, lassie." a sudden gruff voice rang out from upstairs. It was the all-too-familiar voice of Captain Mendoza, the most steadfast rival she's had yet. The lumbering, overweight pirate made his way down to the rickety cell where Tetra was locked up on. "I wonder how yer guys can stand ye. It's like a tone-deaf siren triyn' to sound important or something."

"Mendoza..." Tetra scowled upon seeing the disgustingly unkempt captain. The man's unchecked black-and-gray hair all over his face (whether it was simply turning gray or a nasty case of dandruff, she didn't know nor cared to figure out), bloodshot red eyes, severely yellowed teeth and misshapen nose was enough for her to avert her eyes and prefer to look at the floor or the wall. "You haven't changed a bit. I see every word that comes out of your mouth is filled with venom, as usual."

"And yer still as ignorantly sassy as ever." Mendoza responded. "I'd hold me tongue if I were you. Yer in no position to be spoutin' off nonsense an' insults."

"I'll stop insulting you when you stop being a coward and attack us at the worst possible moment." Tetra spat out instantly. "But since old habits die hard... I'm sorry, you old, ugly, murderous swine who'd sell his own mother for a rupoor."

Mendoza gasped mockingly. "How rude! My mother was worth at least 20 rupees." he said.

Tetra looked squarely at Mendoza's mug and wondered if he was being serious or if it was another ruthless jab at her. She groaned loudly at the mere thought and walked over to the lone chair in the cell. "Witty. Really witty." She said, deadpan. "I wonder if he's paying you extra for the hurtful remarks."

"Who?" Mendoza asked.

"Don't play stupid!" Tetra snarked. "It doesn't take a genius to know that you've been following me around recently because that dimwitted dictator Dante decided to destroy detractors like me. You're under his employ and you're not even questioning why he wants my head on a silver platter. What if he wants you dead next? You ever thought of that?"

Mendoza's gaze turned dead serious after this statement. "Ye really know nothin', eh, lassie?" He pulled up a nearby box and sat right in front of the cell bars. "That Dante feller is more rotten than a sack of dead rats. Has no honor code, that man. Ye know how much he's paid me? Nuttin'. Not a miserable doubloon. To top it off, he threw me in the clinker, as if he never knew me."

"He seriously put you in jail?" Tetra asked amid chuckles. "Poor Mendoza, you must have felt _so_ betrayed."

"It ain't funny, ya know." Mendoza retorted. "I don't think I have seen such a selfish, contemptible man in me life."

"Then I'd like to introduce you to a mirror." Tetra interrupted.

"Yer really getting' on my nerves." Mendoza said. "Look, I know what that Dante feller hid when he talked to me about the bounty, but I wanted the treasure so I accepted. In hindsight, it prolly wasn't too wise to jump the gun, so to speak."

"No way." Tetra said mockingly. "I wouldn't believe it."

"Yer lucky I actually want ya to hear this before I'm done with ye." Mendoza said, with a clear tone of annoyance in his voice. "As I told ye, Dante had me locked up when I went to him again. I was there for about a week an' a half, and then some commotion happened. As I heard it, some delinquents were running amok, makin' a mockery of Dante's military, and they even set off a bomb in the middle of the street. Afterwards, one of those delinquents went to the dungeons and blew up a couple of walls an' disappeared with some of his buddies, but before me an' my crew could get out, the soldiers stopped us. They were about to rebuild the broken walls, but a whole 'nother commotion happened when someone went on and blew their wall-buildin' stuff. Dante was furious, and in that fury, we managed to escape and commandeer this ship. Sure, she ain't pretty, but she handles beautifully."

As Tetra heard more and more, her eyes widened like a pair of saucer plates and her mouth opened to a slack-jawed gape. Realization his her like a ton of bricks when she slowly pieced together what Mendoza's story meant.

"Got it yet?" Mendoza said, with a more dark pleasure in his factions. "I got it immediately, girl. And I brought you here to thank ye. Thank you for letting me, your bitter rival, escape from prison."

* * *

Link looked around carefully. The pirates still held him prisoner, but so far they hadn't moved him off the cargo hold yet. Apparently, they were waiting for some sort of order to move him someplace else. This either meant they were working with each of his shipmates one by one, or that they did not see him as important, and they only needed the go-ahead to plunge him in the ocean. This was definitely the worst moment for Link to remember how bad a swimmer he really was. It was so bad that he couldn't stay afloat for more than two minutes. It was so bad that Niko actually beat him in a swimming contest he so very foolishly agreed on. It was so bad he actually dreaded falling to the water, despite living two whole years on the high seas.

Whatever the reason, Link had plenty of motive to try and find a way out of this situation. If only he could get close to a crate, he could find something heavy or helpful to fend off the intruders. Thus, he took the opportunity that his captors were looking away and began to move so very slowly while pressed against the wall, making sure he made absolutely no noise, and he began inching closer and closer to the crates in the wall. He only needed to get close enough to reach into a crate, and he'd be in business.

"Hey, you!" The gruff voice of the pirate froze Link in place. Link was so fixated on the nearby crate, he did not check if they were looking at him at the moment. He turned his head slowly, only to see the same pirates, still showing him a clear view of their backs, and waving over to someone beyond the cargo hold. "Duke! You get any news yet?"

"NO!" A less rough, but still coarse voice of a man outside of the hold shouted. "I told ya, when it's time, I'll tell ye. Now stay put."

"I swear, that Duke's gotten so bad since he got ascended to first mate." The other pirate in the room commented.

"Ye better not go 'round sayin' that unless ye wish an early retirement, if you know what I mean." The first pirate warned him. "Duke's on Mendoza's good list, and if he says yer a traitor, then yer a traitor."

Noticing how the invading pirates were busy in this exchange, Link decided to take the opportunity to slide slightly faster than before, until he disappeared from view behind a couple of crates. Now that he was there, all he needed to do is find something that could help him work his way up the ship. He carefully took the lid off an open crate and slid inside to take a look. He found a cardboard box with some tattered maps... maybe he could trick them into thinking they were looking for treasure... a sword hilt... definitely broken and useless as a weapon... a couple of porcelain souvenirs... what were these doing in a pirate ship was beyond him... his Phantom Hourglass... so this is where it went... and a whip. Link did know there were whips somewhere in the ship for flogging prisoners and as punishment, but he didn't know where. He didn't know a lot about whips, but if he could handle the grappling hook, he could probably work this whip.

"Hey..." One pirate called the other. "Where'd the kid go?"

When Link heard those words, he knew it was now or never. He needed to take action, and he needed to be swift and precise, or risk getting caught again or worse. He took the whip and exited the crate without being seen, and scurried between the crates and the barrels to remain hidden for the time being. In the cracks between crates, Link could see how the invaders were looking intensely for him while muttering darkly about how could they mess up so bad and how Mendoza would feed them to the piranhas. Finally, he settled right beside a stack of barrels held by some rope and held his whip tightly. Then he waited, for he only had one shot.

"Come on, he didn't leave this place, so he oughta be here somewhere." The gruff pirate said to his partner. They began searching every nook and cranny, getting on crates and looking around gaps, moving ever closer to Link's position. Link, however, expected this, and let the whip loose, holding it only by the handle. Then, he saw one of them pass dangerously close to where he was hiding, meaning the pirate was probably right in front of the barrels.

[CRACK!]

Link cracked the whip on the barrel's fastening rope, making it loosen and yield to the sheer weight of the wooden cylinders. Helped by Link's tremendous effort in shoving them, the barrels started tumbling away and rolling wildly all over the cargo hold. The unfortunate pirate in front of the pile was crushed underneath the wooden avalanche, and his partner did not fare much better, hopping over a few before becoming overwhelmed by the sheer force of the barrels' speed and weight. When the last barrel stopped rolling, the two captors were laying unconscious on the ground, pinned down by several barrels. Link knew he had very little time. He rushed out of the cargo hold and made his way into the cabins, where he left his sword, shield and several items that were sure to help him.

* * *

Tetra sat on the lone chair inside her cell. Her factions displayed the utter spite she felt upon herself, considering what she had inadvertently done. She rubbed her temples vigorously trying to find even a semblance of calm, despite her mind tossing and turning wildly and unyielding to leave her be.

"Don't feel too bad." Mendoza began, a mocking tone of gratitude adorning his voice. "Ye were lucky we know each other. Were I a total stranger, I couldn't be able to properly thank ye."

"Shut it." Tetra quickly shot back. "To think I helped you, of all people, escape." She then turned to face the wall opposite the cell bars as to not look at Mendoza's disgusting face. Still, the feeling of sheer disgust did not leave her. It was more than just the guy's face that bothered her: it was his blubbery frame, his dirty mind and his underhanded tactics, his sheer lack of respect and dignity... all these things painted a horrific stomach-turning scene in Tetra's mind that she could not let go. "If I could, I'd throw you right back."

"But ye can't, can ye?" Mendoza answered.

"And I'd wish you would just shut up and leave me alone." Tetra added, extending her fingers as far as she could in exasperation.

Mendoza sighed crudely but somewhat sincerely. "Now, lassie, we're rivals. We butt heads every once in a while. Yes, ye gonna have some sort of resentment 'gainst me, but ye look at me like I got scurvy all over me skin or somthin."

"Well..." Tetra began, with some sort of a sarcastic chuckle. "How convenient must it be for you to forget everything that you've done, right?" She then turned to face Mendoza again, and her face was locked in absolute disgust and hatred.

"Everythin' I did? What have I done to ye?" Mendoza quickly started to defend himself. "That is, except showing ye how experienced pirates work and upstagin' ye in several plunders and treasure findings. I've yet to try somthin particularly bad to ye or yer crew since ye became captain."

"Huh... of course. I knew you'd say that." Tetra said, retiring her gaze from Mendoza once more, preferring to look at the floor. "You conveniently forget what happened _before_ I became the captain. When my mother was still alive. You were nigh ruthless then."

"Ah... the golden years." Mendoza began to remember with a bit of nostalgia in his factions. "Takes me back, ye know. Yer mother was a real captain. Dominant, precise, strategic... all the things ye lack. Maybe that's why we clashed so much. Great people are bound to clash often, methinks."

"Yeah, I remember that." Tetra said. "But still, that's not what I'm talking about."

"Then what, girl?" Mendoza questioned, feeling livid at the lack of a proper answer. "Do ye think I betrayed her or somthin? Ye know I was once buddies with yer mother and we even split the loot evenly when we worked together, but ye have to understand that times change. Me men were getting' restless every time the loot was thinner so we had to cut ties, and when the inevitable came... WHAM!" He accentuated his position by stomping on the floor. "And just like that, we went from ocean buddies to bitter rivals. Aye, just like that."

"And that gave you license to do what you did?" Tetra asked, inadvertently raising her voice.

"Now, now, lassie." Mendoza tried to ease Tetra's tension. "I know me own life more than ye think, and I know I did many things I'm not proud of. I definitely went down a few times and battled Madam Jacques ship-to-ship over stuff like treasure and bounties, but at the end of the day, ye can't undo what ye did. I wish I could, too. Madam Jacques was a great ally, and..."

"I know that!" Tetra interrupted, her anger and disgust growing at every word heard. "I know about what you thought about my mother, and how things went sour over some trifling treasure thing. If it was just that, I'd probably think similarly of you, despite you being an unkempt pig who treats his crew like last week's news. But there's something that I just can't understand about your actions."

"What? What? Spit it out, for Din's sake!" Mendoza demanded.

Tetra stood up, still not turning to face Mendoza, and instead preferring to look straight at the wall. "If you thought so highly of my mother, despite being rivals and enemies, and if you wished you could go back to being good friends, as you so put it, then why did you do it?"

"Do what? What did I do?" Mendoza asked, looking rather lost in the conversation.

"And you still deny it! You still deny having anything to do with it." Tetra exclaimed, speaking through clenched teeth, as if trying to calm her rising fury. After a short while, she turned fully towards Mendoza, with her head pointing diagonally down, though her eyes were leering darkly straight at him. Her eyes were starting to water, though she did her best to hold off any tears, and she turned her hands into fist as to avoid any unnecessary shaking. "You're the one. You did it. You killed my mother."

* * *

Body pressed against the wall. Shimmy up left and right, making as little noise as possible. Sneaking a peek around corners to see if any hostiles are nearby. Link remembered all these tactics he had previously used in similar situations when he had no other viable options to get through a place, and he worked his way around the pirate ship perfectly because of this. So far, though, he had encountered no opposition and he had a pretty clear shot at the cabins, where his precious items were. He looked all around as far as his eyes could see, and when he confirmed there was nobody around, he made a mad dash towards the cabins.

He soon realized how foolish a choice he made. There were at least four rival pirates in the cabins, and it was obvious they were rummaging through the stuff, as some were playing with the sabres and were lugging around bows, bombs and flintlock guns. And, unfortunately, they all saw Link barge right in.

"Hey!" one pirate shouted. "What're ye doin' here? Who let ye loose?"

Link did not answer. He merely steeled himself as he gripped the whip's handle tightly and waited for any of the pirates to make the first move. "Not talkin' eh?" The one pirate questioned. "Well, o quiet one, I will make ye squeal." The gruff sailor rushed over to Link, blade drawn, ready to cleave the young hero with it. Link foresaw this and cracked the whip right at the pirate's hand, making the tall man wince in pain and drop the sabre as he rubbed his wrist. Taking this opportunity, Link whipped the pirate over and over, getting on every part of the man's chest, leaving the guy squealing as he tried to cover himself from the punishment. Quickly, Link put the pirate out of commission, leaving the guy's comrades stunned... but far from discouraged, the trio became enraged and pulled out the weapons they stole and set to give them good use. Seeing this, Link grabbed the dropped sabre and used the whip to retain some distance between him and the rest, and as soon as the opponents looked out-of-sorts, Link stepped forward and began whipping them, effectively taking away their guns and other weapons. In a desperate attempt, the three threw themselves at Link at the same time as to overwhelm him. Link however, stepped out of the way at the last second and let them knock out each other.

Link recovered his sword and shield, as well as equipping himself with bombs, bow and arrows, the Magical Glove, the Chained Lance, Roc's Father and some Deku Nuts. He sidestepped the unconscious group of pirates and let himself out of the cabins and headed upwards.

"Link! I knew it was you!" A familiar voice rang from some unknown place nearby Link's position. The green-garbed kid looked around, but saw nobody around. "Psst! Up here!" Link heard the voice again, and followed its instructions to look up. When he did, he noticed a faint glint from a pair of glasses. "I knew I heard you giving those rowdy pirates a good what for!" Mako said excitedly.

Link looked confused upon seeing his comrade hidden within the ship's wooden walls and ceilings. "Oh, you may be wondering how I got here." Mako guessed correctly. "Well, when Mendoza's men ambushed us, I ran underneath Miss Tetra's bed. There's a hole in there where a small person could fit and sneak perfectly around the ship. Thing is, the place between walls is very tight, and as it stands, I think only me and Niko could fit inside. I mean it, don't risk it." Then, the glint of Mako's glasses disappeared, leaving Link feeling oddly inconclusive. "Hey, what are you doing?" Mako suddenly reappeared and reprimanded Link. "Get going already! The rest of us must be somewhere here or on Mendoza's ship. Tetra's sure to be there as well. I'll try to meet up with you later." And with those words, Mako disappeared for good.

Link continued around the ship, and decided to check over Tetra's room to make sure the important items, such as the Goddesses' Compass, the Ancient Hyrulian Book and the map of Waarheid, were all right. If what those invaders did on the cabins was any indicator, he worried at what they could do to Tetra's important documents.

Link suddenly skidded to a halt and hid behind a wall. Just as he saw Tetra's room, a big, burly guard was standing right in front of it, blocking the way in. Where exactly did Mendoza find all these big and burly men, Link wondered. However, he hoped they all shared yet another trait: their dim wit. He pulled out a Deku Nut and lobbed it toward the guard and waited for a moment. Before long, a bright flash shone right by Link, and he knew the trap worked. He walked right to Tetra's room, passing the static guard on the way, and began rummaging through her desk and seeing if the important stuff was there. The map of Waarheid was there, and he took that as a good sign. He kept looking around, and though he found several maps, books, and instruments, he somehow couldn't find either the Compass nor the Ancient Book. He looked everywhere: on Tetra's wooden chest, on top of the beams, behind her bed, inside the desk's drawers... but still no sign of the more important items. Link then figured someone must have taken them away, and he needed to take them back if they ever wanted to finish their quest.

Just then, another pirate entered Tetra's room. He wasn't buffed up like the res, but rather tall and lanky. His face looked very deviously menacing, and a stupidly long smile was plastered on his bearded face. "Well, lookee here. Fresh meat." The pirate talked in a coarse voice, clearer than the other invaders. Link recognized the voice immediately as the one who was talking to his original captors at the cargo hold. This was Duke, Mendoza's First Mate. "I dunno how ye got away from those dead-brained men, but yer little adventure ends here."

* * *

"Look, kid..." Mendoza began slowly, after recovering from the shocker of his life. "I had tagged ye as irresponsible, hard headed, inexperienced, and too young fer this. But I never thought of ye as unreasonable... 'til now." Mendoza then stood up from the box and started pacing about. "Yer mind must be really screwy to have come up with such an incredible story like that. Me? Killin' yer mother?"

"It's true, though." Tetra interrupted. "You had the reason, you had the way, and you had more than enough opportunities to pull it off. I though it over for some time, and there can't be any other option. You were my mother's most stubborn rival, and you must've harbored some deep hatred for her, and when opportunity knocked..."

"Let me stop ye right there, missy." Mendoza raised his hand to cut in. "Are ye tryin' to say I offed Madam Jacques 'cause of a bounty? Granted, it wouldn't surprise me if at one point there were a bounty for her head, but don't ye think that was an odd way to try an collect a bounty? Yer not seriously thinking I could've collected a bounty with no carcass to show. Think! Use that space between yer ears for a second an' consider the events around yer mother's death." Mendoza sat back down on his box as he motioned Tetra to sit as well. Tetra did not respond, instead preferring to wait on the unkempt captain's explanations standing up, looking at him with a thoroughly contemptible leer.

"Now, here's how I heard it." Mendoza began. "Yer mother was poisoned, was she not? There's a problem already. Look at me. Do I look like the kind to poison someone behind their backs? I'd much rather see them eye-to-eye an' off them with me own hands."

"The poison could work as a deceptive ploy." Tetra reasoned. "It would be a probable way to steer the finger away from you."

"Even then, where would I find such a slow poison?" Mendoza shot back. "It was a slow poison that took days to take effect, as I heard it. Do ye know where ye could get that poison? I don't. I dunno how to make any poison, either. I told ye, I'd much rather take me enemies by me own hands. Do ye see now the folly in your accusation?"

Tetra kept looking at Mendoza with all sorts of dangerously venomous looks, but she did not want to speak. She recognized there was something within Mendoza that she had not seen before... there was an air of sincerity about him. "Now, say I got some poison and used it on 'er. Why would I even let 'er go after that? I've yet to see a bounty where I could just show up and claim _"I got 'im"_ without so much as a morsel of proof. There just ain't one. I'm sorry to disappoint, lass, but I'm not the one yer looking fer."

"You're right... I do feel disappointed." Tetra remarked. "For a second there, I thought you had gotten smart. Now, remind me again where did I ever mention a bounty? Did I even mention a specific reason for you to act upon? I only said you must've had a reason, whatever it was. And if you think I buy that poison bull, you got another thing coming."

"Well, it's true." Mendoza retorted, beginning to raise his voice for the first time in the entire conversation. "If ye don't wanna believe me, then it's yer problem, but at least, for this one moment I can stand in front of ye with a clean conscience and tell ye I had nothin' to do with yer mother's death."

The sudden unquestionable conviction in Mendoza's words came as a shock for Tetra. She had not expected to see the overweight captain come forward in such a fashion, defending his posture as if someone were attacking him personally. She lowered her gaze to the floor as she took a moment to analyze what he was telling her. It was tough to wrap her mind around the possibility that all this time she was wrong and all that effort she put into this might have meant nothing.

"Then who?" Tetra asked. She raised her face, only to show how it had degenerated to a desperate gaze. "Who did it, then? If it's not you, I don't know anybody else who's still alive that could be. Who killed my mother?"

Mendoza looked straight into Tetra's desperate gaze, and for some strange reason, he could not turn a blind eye to her. "Look, if it'll make ye stop yer whinin', I can tell ye what I know." he said. Tetra looked straight to his face apprehensively, but still somewhat curious at to what he had to say. "Now pay mind that not even I know fer sure if this is accurate, but maybe it'll help ye." Mendoza stood up from his seat and began pacing around the room again, waving his hand about in an attempt to remember as clearly as possible. "It be around four years ago or so when I heard it, the tales of a great curse that befall on those that make a deal with dark entities. It was on a lone docking bay on a faraway island that seafarers often choose to ignore where I heard it, that these curses oftentimes seek those in desperate need of somthin', playing with them and makin' them feel safe 'till it's too late, and then, slowly and surely they seize the life force from their victims, and then, only their lifeless bodies remain. And as I heard it, there are two entities workin' the curse, prolly to this very day."

"Interesting." Tetra said as she paid attention to Mendoza's tale. "But I don't understand what does this have to do with anything."

"Well..." Mendoza began, looking more and more mischievous than before. "What do ye know about two old hags?"

* * *

Link almost had no time to draw up his shield before Duke went in with a lunge. Link successfully pushed him back and began to distance himself as he tried to come up with a counterattack. Link tried to pull out a decent weapon, but every time he tried to, Duke lunged forward and stopped him just short of getting on the offensive. Link tried his best, but Duke was just behind him every time, and he just couldn't catch a decent breather. And the worst part was, Link somehow felt Duke was only starting with his agile offensive.

Duke saw an opening and decided to run with it, swiping lower than usual and aiming for the green hero's legs. Link, seeing this, stepped back just in time to avoid the swipe and somehow managed to clumsily fall on top of Duke's head. Link quickly got up and noticed he had the opportunity he wanted so much, so he quickly pulled out something out of his bag before Duke could get back up and retaliate.

"Why ye stupid little kid." Duke sneered ad he stood back up. "Ye think yer so great now, no? Methinks yer just wet all over." Duke then noticed the object that was pointed at his direction and was forced to stifle a laugh. "What are ye gonna do with that? Tickle me to death?"

Before Link could respond, he took a good look at what he had in his hand and groaned when he found only Roc's Feather. Duke was already getting his crazy smile again while he prepared his blade for combat, so Link had no choice but to use what he had in hand... and he jumped right to the ceiling, far above the reach of Duke's blade. Link took this opportunity to finally unsheathe his sword and gain an advantage on this fight with the Roc's Feather's unpredictability factor. He jumped left and right like a mad monkey, leaving Duke's agility in question as the lanky pirate appeared to have a difficult time catching up with him. Then, Link went in for a strike, pointing his sword forwards as he jumped sideways towards Duke... but then the invading pirate blocked him right in mid-air, making him stop and drop to the floor.

"What? Did ye really think ye could be better than I?" Duke taunted. He even allowed Link to stand up before continuing to run his mouth. "Yer really stupid. There's a reason I am first mate. Ain't a soul that's beaten me. I would LOVE to see ye pull a fast one on me... What're ye smilin' for?" He questioned when he saw Link's face transform into a satisfactory smirk. "Yer not takin' me seriously. I oughta show ye what... is somthin' burnin'?" He asked. Then, smoke began to rise from around him. When Duke looked down, he was strapped with at least five bombs whose lit fuses were slowly shrinking. Duke's horror-stricken face was a contrast to Link's casual actions,who was leisurely covering himself with his shield while he looked rather satisfied with himself. The last thing Link saw or heard of Duke was his high-pitched scream as he dashed out of Tetra's room trying to get the myriad of ropes off him.

For all the confidence Link had built up during these past encounters, he was completely unprepared for what was waiting for him beyond the door. When he entered the top deck, he was immediately face-to-face with a swarm of pirates that sprawled all the way to the opposing ship, hooting and hollering wildly. On his own ship's mast, Link could see two men tied up, bound and gagged. Link gasped as he noticed they were Gonzo and Zuko, beaten and battered but still conscious and struggling to free themselves. He wanted to help them... but first he needed to get past the invaders.

The gruff pirates began to run towards Link, but he was prepared with his bow, his arrows and his Roc's Feather, and he immediately jumped out of the way before anybody could reach him. Link took hop after hop after hop until he was hanging from under the crow's nest, and proceeded to take aim with some deku nut-armed arrows. After a few shots, more than half of the invaders were sprawled on the floor unconscious, while the rest were either running aimlessly with no idea what they were doing or simply jumping ship and shouting something along the lines of "I'm not paid enough for this." Only a brave duo stood their ground, holding on to crude shields and swords and withstanding anything Link could throw at them.

Then, Link jumped down to the ground and cut the rope holding Gonzo and Zuko with one swipe. He then ran around the deck and delivered his comrades a pair of fresh blades, and pointed in the direction of the two remaining invaders on the ship. "Okay, Zuko. Time for some revenge." Gonzo said, a mischievous grin growing on his face.

"Sweet..." Zuko responded, his eyes narrowing on the opponents in front of him. The gruff pirate looked at each other, double-guessing their decision to stand tall against them. Eventually, though, they considered the condition of their opponents, and charged straight ahead. Suddenly, Zuko emitted a loud, shrill yell as he swiped his blade around the air expertly and quickly. He then jumped right at his opponent's face and made him drop on his back, to which Zuko followed through with a series of wild punches to the face followed by a good slice on the man's gut. The wounded pirate barely managed to get Zuko off him before finally sliding back behind his partner.

Then, Gonzo whistled loudly, which was Zuko's signal to return from the attack. "I suggest you take your partner here and leave now." Gonzo said to the still healthy pirate. "Or should I tell Zuko here to continue his attack?" He then pointed to a ripe and ready Zuko craving for a second round. The pirate got the idea and grabbed his partner and, throwing their arms around each other's necks, wobbled out to Mendoza's ship and took the first longboat out.

"All right. That's that." Gonzo stated, cleaning his hands while he turned to see the bulk of the top deck only to see a bunch of unconscious pirates. "Looks like we'll need lots of rope. Zuko, would you?" he asked, to which the short baggy-eyed guy promptly obliged. Gonzo then faced Link with a smile on his face "We'll take care of things here, Link. Go to Mendoza's ship and find him. He'll certainly know where Miss Tetra is. That's the fastest way to end this, I'm sure."

Link nodded and ran to the ship's starboard, making a running leap towards Mendoza's ship and managing to hang on to its railing by his fingers. Once on the top deck of Mendoza's ship, he quickly pulled out his sword and shield to avoid any sort of surprise attack. He looked around, but after finding no opponents, he quickly made his way to the ship's lower decks.

* * *

"That's ridiculous." Tetra sneered. "I can't believe I actually let you go on with this."

"Ye wanted t' know what I know." Mendoza defended his position. "I just told ye. Take it as ye want, but I have no reason to misguide ye here."

"Riiiiight." Tetra said. "So there's supposed to be two tiny old witches, even smaller than me, flying around the Great Sea wreaking havoc and stealing people's souls. Is that it?"

"I know ye find it hard to believe, especially from me mouth." Mendoza reasoned. "But I'd say nothin' like this like it be the truth if I didn't feel it to be true. Those two hags? I've seen them with me own eyes. It was four years ago on a bar in the rugged northern island of Frelon, a place only pirates and gutsy merchants frequent. Sure, I never saw them fly meself, but they had their brooms, and even walked like they didn't use their feet much. Wobbling about they walked. An' their faces... how could ye describe them... oh, I'd say scary beyond all reason."

"So you say you saw, you say." Tetra said, musing over the sensational story she was just told. "I don't know. Flying hags, being purveyors of death and misery? That doesn't sound too plausible in my book."

"And what is ploosible in yer book?" Mendoza retorted. "Think back to the last time somthin happened that shouldn't have. In fact, last I heard of ye, ye were claimin' yer crew took down a ghost ship that haunted the western seas and harbored not two, but four hags of their own. Can ye honestly stand there an' tell me me own story ain't ploosible?"

Mendoza had a point, Tetra thought. Her recent travels haven't been exactly what you'd call normal for any pirate crew in the world. In these past months alone she's been involved in battles against a walking table, animated skeletons, dog-faced soldiers, huge blue plants, an oversized owl, a huge wall-crawling worm and a large bee among others. She couldn't outright dismiss a pair of flying witches as too far-fetched for her liking. Believing it was not the problem, though.

"Besides, I got a picture someone took." Mendoza added, pulling out a bent and ragged picture out of his vest. The picture was stained and tattered, but it was clear where it counted: a pair of black blots that seemed to sprout legs, floating among puffy clouds high above the seas. "I say nothin' like this like it be the truth if I didn't feel it to be true."

"You said that 3 minutes ago. You're not good with meaningful echoes, are you?" Tetra retorted. "Anyway... s-say you're right. What good does knowing this now will do to me? Is there any use for me now, considering that those two must be so far away?"

"Ye really are thick-headed, aren't ye, lass?" Mendoza said. "Have ye been keepin' up with the latest stuff while runnin' around playin' hero? These hags... they've been sighted on Waarheid!"

Tetra's eyes widened in shock, and her color dropped from her face as she let it all sink in.

"Ye seem to understand where I'm goin' with this." Mendoza continued. "Whatever it is those hags seek, whatever curse they're pullin', whatever happened five years ago... it seems it's not over yet. I'd be wary if I were ye."

Tetra was speechless. Her body was running colder by the second. Her feet started to fail her, forcing her to sit on the floor and crawl backwards on the floor. She darted her eyes around as though she expected to find some sort of refuge or answer inside the rank prison she was in. Things clicked in place, but she did not want to. Whoever those two witches were, she could at least figure out as much: All that has happened to her in these past months was no coincidence. Her mother, apparently, was just the beginning. They were going after her.

"B... b... b... b... but... why?"

"Yer askin' me? I'm as clueless as ye in that." Mendoza replied. "Maybe they get a sick enjoyment outta it. Maybe ye have somthin' they need, somthin' ye don't even know ye have. I mean, they went after yer mother first. Does that tell ye nothin'?"

Just then, Tetra's thoughts turned from terrified to confused. She had become so busy in this talk, she had forgotten the situation she was in. "B-but... you're keeping me here. If those hags really are after me, then my being here puts you and your crew in direct danger. So why are you doing this?" Then, her mind thought something rather ridiculous. "You... You aren't thinking of protecting me, are you?"

"You're right! I'm not." Mendoza shouted, amidst stifling laughter. "Why would I ever protect ye? Yer right, having ye here is a danger fer me if the hags are indeed looking for ye... if they only were in to kill ye. Something tells me they need ye alive, otherwise, they would've gone and offed you long ago. So you see, yer not just a prisoner in me ship." As he uttered each word, his face began turning more and more sinister, as he relished on his master plan. "No... Yer a special prisoner in me ship. Yer my safety net. Should those hags ever try anythin' on me, or should I think I am on any danger, yer gonna be the first thing on the barter list. Or how 'bout this? I could actually talk to those hags, maybe, if yer as valuable to them as we think ye are, then I could make off with a hefty treasure as a trade."

"Y-you..." Tetra trembled and tittered as she became exposed to the true depths of Captain Mendoza's lack of humanity and disregard of others. Still, she did not desire to expose any weakness to such a despicable man. "You... really think... I would... allow you to use me... as some sort of bait or bounty?" Teeth clenched, eyes narrowed, visibly labored breath... Tetra's surge of hatred renewed. If there were no iron bars between them, Tetra would've already launched herself at Mendoza's lardish frame and given him a beatdown, regardless of her obvious disadvantage. "You don't know what you're messing with. You think I've been running around doing trivial matters? Do you think you know about what I've _faced_ more than me? If these hags do exist, and if they are indeed trying to get me, then you can rest assured they will not try and barter with you. They will kill you if they get the chance. You're just a stepping stone in their way, an insignificant blockade they will sweep away if the need arrives. How do you suppose to make them not kill you on sight? How are mere bars going to keep them away from me, and how are mere cannonballs going to keep them away from you? Don't you see? You were never any good with these plans, were you? Chances are, either my crew will find me and free me before you make off with me, or if you ever do escape, the witches will finish the job. And you, oh mighty Captain Mendoza? You will be forgotten, like so many cowardly sailors have been already, and when the book of great sailors and pirates is written, you will only appear as a statistic, with no redeeming, stand-out points... at all."

Mendoza's body communicated his uneasiness and thinly disguised fear while he was listening to Tetra discharge with everything she had. He was sweating profusely and he held his arms up as if trying to defend himself from the verbal beating he was being subjected to. At every word, he realized more and more how full of holes his plan had been. So much as a single mistake could potentially end in disaster for him.

"One chance. You have one chance." Tetra continued. "Let me go. Don't chase after me afterwards, and I won't chase after you. Do you understand?"

"That's... quite an idea ye defused there." Mendoza stammered as he shifted towards a wall where some sacks were piled up. He pushed the sacks away violently and revealed a large lever behind them. "Ye forgot one part, though. Me new ship has some tricks up her sleeves. She's big enough to handle five of yer tiny ship easily. Also, ye never wondered why yer cell was so big? Or why was yer floor lower than mine?"

Tetra shot her eyes downward quickly as soon as he said that. Not a moment too soon, Mendoza pulled on the lever slightly, making the floor on Tetra's feet shift and rumble. Then, the floor exposed a break in the middle and began to tilt inwards, revealing an inner pool underneath the cell. Inside the pool, many raving piranhas thrashed about on the water's surface, stirred by even the slightest item that fell through the crack. After seeing this, Tetra climbed her way upward to a cell wall, seeking safety.

"I think ye see me point." Mendoza said smugly, making a full recovery to his usual disgusting self. "I've always said yer trust in yer crew was gonna be yer downfall. They will rather let you in there than risk having ye fall to a gruesome death. The hags need you enough not to kill ye yet, and I only need to give them a demonstration like that to barter with 'em." Mendoza took a moment to relish on Tetra's complexion, which featured a mixture of hatred and fear. "Personally, I'd tell ye to get comfy, but I think yer chair is about to become piranha bait."

* * *

Link's trip through Mendoza's ship has so far been uneventful. It was almost as if the bulk of the crew was used to storm Tetra's ship, and they stupidly left this whole ship unattended. He felt, however, that there was supposed to be somebody here. After all, he had yet to find either Senza, Nudge or Niko anywhere, so he figured they must be somewhere inside the ship's lower decks. So far, however, there was no sign of life. Furthermore, the sheer size of the ship made him confused so much he inadvertently walked into the same cabin three times while trying to find the way further down, where he guessed Mendoza could have Tetra imprisoned.

Then... a thud.

"That was ace!" a voice rang from across the hall Link was on. It was not a familiar voice, but he took this as a lead and began walking towards the source of the voice. Eventually, there was a room emitting a faint candlelight, and Link peered inside in the stealthiest of ways. He could not believe what he was seeing: what seemed to be the two bulkiest pirates in the entirety of Mendoza's payroll were playing some target game with a large target crudely painted across the wall... and the playing pieces were Senza and Nudge. Link had to clasp his mouth close to avoid emitting so much as a peep as he witnessed the sick game the pirates played, who made it a point to launch the tied up and battered prisoners head-first on the painted wall.

"That's 100 points! I'm winning." One of the bulky pirates proclaimed, laughing as if they were playing a mere innocent game.

Link had to act quick. He knew the fate of his comrades depended on whether or not he concocted his moves properly and consistently. He saw how little arrows he had left, so he decided to try something else. He then pulled out the Chained Lance.

The bulky pirates were chuckling it up as they saw how beaten and barely conscious their prisoners were. They probably felt so very proud of themselves fro thinking up a perfect way for making them very quiet... which is probably why they didn't notice the large metallic lance flying between them and affixing itself on the wall in front of them. By the time they noticed something was wrong, it was too late: the wooden wall had been pulled clean off its frame and landed squarely on the large duo, knocking them out cold. Link took this quick opportunity to run and cut his partners loose.

"Oy, my head." Nudge whined as he finally was able to nurse his battered body with his hands. "I'm gonna need some serious healing time after this."

"Link?" Senza wondered as he squinted and tried to focus on the green blob in front of him. "I... can't see you well yet. My head's throbbing too hard. Link, listen. I heard Miss Tetra was taken way down, to the brig. Mendoza may also be there as well. Don't get confident with him, he's a devious one, that Mendoza."

Link nodded and began to walk out of the room. Before leaving, though, he reached for some spare rope on the corner of the room and tied the pirates so much not even their oversized muscles could help them escape anytime soon. He also gave Senza and Nudge a pair of blades he found on the room's wall, just in case they needed them. And with those preparations done, he disappeared from the room.

"My head just won't let up." Nudge kept whining. "I just hope this ends soon."

"Don't worry." Senza assured him. "Link's not the child that first mounted our ship. He's grown a lot. I daresay that he's starting to become a man."

"... Okay, now you're being delirious." Nudge commented.

Meanwhile, Link was finally making strides downward after finding the way to the lower decks. As before, there really wasn't anybody guarding the place, which made it obvious that they focused too much on getting the prize and they neglected the home front. He made it to what seemed the cargo hold, and the amount of treasure laid bare all around would be a real temptation for any regular person seeking to get rich off some pirates. Link, however, did not desire such distractions, as his mind was set on one thing and one thing only... Rescuing Tetra.

Finally, after going down a large rope ladder, he saw what looked like a few jail cells... and a patch of blond hair. There she was... Tetra was within a few steps of his reach. Still, he began approaching slowly and carefully, since he knew there was still one person he needed to see, even though he was nowhere to be seen. As he approached, it looked like Tetra had not noticed him, instead focusing on something in the middle of the floor. Better that way, he thought, so he could get the jump on the ringleader easier.

He then noticed that his footsteps were too heavy-sounding for him.

"Yer too predictable, boy." Mendoza declared from right behind Link just before socking the green hero squarely in the jaw and knocking him down a ways. This garnered Tetra's attention, who could only watch helplessly as the horrifying events unfolded in front of her. "Coming in here to save your beloved captain... who would've thunk it? Of course, I'll have a good talk with the idiots who let ye loose, but that's beside the point. Ye must have a lotta guts to make it here like that. But yer not gonna get past me. Ye have none of yer flyin' friends to help ye today, and yer fightin' alone." Mendoza then picked Link up and lifted him by the neck collar to see him face-to-face. "Yer too scrawny-lookin' to put up much of a fight. Why should I bother with ye?"

Link immediately gave him the answer when he touched Mendoza's arm with his right gloved hand, making Mendoza feel a severe burn on his arm and forcing him to let Link go. As soon as he hit the floor, Link hopped back a few paces and drew his sword and shield, readying himself for a fight against the large pirate captain. Despite his preparation, though, Mendoza simply laughed the hero's efforts off.

"I'll admit, ye got guts, kid." Mendoza conceded. "Why, ye could made a nice addition to me crew. What do ya say? Leave her and work for me? I'll bet ye saw the cargo hold on the way here. Just think of all the treasure ye could get by joinin' me. With yer guts and me guidance, we'd be unstoppable! What do ya say?"

Link did not even hesitate for a second. Instead, he gripped his sword tighter and steeled his gaze straight at Mendoza.

"Well, ye had yer chance." Mendoza said. He then pulled a long cutlass from his sheath and readied himself for the fight. "Now ye better be ready to fight for what ye desire."

Link wasted no time, and launched the first attack against Mendoza. He jumped and met Mendoza at eye level with his sword rushing ahead of him. Mendoza, however, skidded backwards quickly and blocked with his cutlass, pushing Link back as well. Despite this setback, Link recovered quickly and tried to pressure Mendoza with quick slices and stabs. Mendoza, however, showed his expertise with the blade by blocking each end every one of Link's attacks. No matter what kind of new or made-up way of striking did Link use, Mendoza was always ready with a block and a counterattack. It got to the point where Link could attack less and less, and he was using his shield more and more. Mendoza's moves became quicker still, leaving Link with very little opening to strike and forcing him to hide beneath his shield and step back.

Then, Mendoza twisted his cutlass in such a way that Link could not comprehend it fully, until the cutlass struck his shield in such a way that it flew away, right behind a few tumbled-over sacks. Relieved of his shield, Link had to resort to running backwards to avoid Mendoza's relentless advances, while trying to block moves with his sword (something he was not prepared to do at all).

"What is it, boy?" Mendoza taunted as he advanced further in. "Ye were ready to fight not too long ago. It seems ye need more practice than what ye know. Too bad yer not gonna get it in time." Right then, Mendoza threw a quick stab at Link... and the green-clothed hero instinctively grabbed the blade with his right hand.

The cutlass burned up intensely, making Mendoza squeal in pain and drop the blade to the ground. He took a few steps back, bewildered as to why he was being burned up by that boy's hand alone, and tried to quickly find a way to counter that perceived advantage. Link noticed Mendoza's reactions, and took a quick glance at his right arm, which was outfitted with the green Magical Glove. Then, it hit him. He was finally starting to comprehend the extent of the Magical Gloves' powers, and he was just about ready to use this to his advantage. Link began walking forward to Mendoza with his sword in his left hand and his gloved right hand outstretched. Mendoza tried to put up a strong face, but every time that glove was anywhere near him, he could feel an intense heat emanating from it, making him sweat a lot and suffocating him, forcing him to walk backwards for shelter. Eventually, Link cornered Mendoza on a wall and gave him no quarters, which led to Mendoza trying to find anything that could help him defend himself from this menace.

And then, he found a lever.

"Link!" Tetra's panicked shout distracted Link for all of a second. It was too late, however, and Mendoza pulled down on the lever completely, which activated the false floor under Tetra's feet in its entirety. Link was just in time to witness Tetra fall down and away from his view. The piranhas thrashed on the water wildly in raving expectation... but somehow, the big splash did not happen. Instead, the excitement of the piranhas began dying out, and they even began to quiver in fear.

Suddenly, the entire brig was flooded with an incredibly bright white light, so bright it exposed every hole and imperfection in the room's walls and floors. The source of the light began raising from the hole in Tetra's cell. It looked like a woman dressed in a long fancy dress, with her hair flowing around even though there was not even a breeze in the area and reaching all the way to her legs, and a gaze that appeared to pierce right through people's minds. The woman raised her arm, and a great force forced the cell's door open with such strength that the door flew off its hinges and to the wall.

Upon seeing this showcase of power from the woman, Mendoza dropped to the floor and tried to scurry out to the nearest exit behind him. Unfortunately for him, he hit a corner to which he could not escape easily, so all he could do is look straight at the self-glowing woman and hope she didn't want to go near him.

The woman began walking in the air and out the cell. When her feet finally touched the floor, her glow began to dim, and it was just enough to allow Link and Mendoza to see the rest of her features. The woman had long, flowing blond hair, deep and piercing blue eyes, a pair of light blue gloves that combined with her pink, white and blue design of her sophisticated and detailed dress, she was adorned with several pieces of golden jewelery, the most striking of which was a golden tiara with housed a red stone in the very middle of it.

Link, halfway stupefied at the events happening in front of him, could only point at the woman silently, as if he comprehended who she was, but could not bring himself to say so.

"Boy..." Mendoza whispered to Link, but as each word escaped his mouth, his voice became higher and more desperately strained. "Don't tell me... Don't ye dare tell me... Is that... That couldn't be! Is that really YER CAPTAIN!?"

Link nodded slowly, confirming Mendoza's worst fears. That woman in front of him was indeed Captain Tetra, who had somehow not only survived her encounter with the piranhas, but also found some previously untapped great power which allowed her to pull those impressive stunts. Worse even for him, Tetra began eying him with the most stern, piercing gaze he's yet experienced in his life, and she then began to walk over to him.

Link noticed how utterly frightening Tetra looked inside her eyes, and decided it best to simply step back and not interrupt her for the moment.

"Captain Mendoza." Tetra began, commanding a more authoritative and firm voice about her as she approached the frightened man. "All your life has been full of deceit and lies. You have led a truly miserable, pathetic existence, and I have no doubt in my mind that there are people in this world that would love nothing more than to get their hands on you and submit you to a proper retribution. Up until a moment ago, I was one of those people. However, I truly believe that you did not have a hand in my mother's death. I am willing to forgive you and let you live, under one condition. You will leave me and my crew alone, and you will never again face us at all. Should I ever put my eyes on your pathetic and selfish being, I will be forced to put you to justice... and I will show you no mercy should we ever cross paths again. Do you understand?"

Mendoza nodded silently, evidently too afraid to even open his mouth.

"I would also advise you against using that shield against me." Tetra pointed out, surprising Mendoza and his futile attempt to fight back using Link's lost shield. "And to make sure you fulfill your end of the promise..." She said as she knelt to Mendoza and grabbed him tightly by his neck with one hand for a few seconds, which made Mendoza scream in pain. When she removed her hand, a strange mark that resembled a wing had been permanently burned into Mendoza's neck skin. "You shall carry the mark of your shame for the rest of your life."

With those words, Tetra stood up again and, without taking her piercing eyes off Mendoza, stepped back from him and gave him time to remove himself from her presence. Mendoza didn't need further hinting, for as soon as he could find the strength within him, he got to his feet and ran as fast as his stumpy feet allowed him, all while covering his burned-in mark with his hands.

Finally, Link decided to approach Tetra and assess her situation. When he got close enough, though, Tetra turned her gaze to him and showed she had yet to shed her stern and angered look from her. The fact that the room remained brightly lit from her glow served as a reminder of her tremendous power. Still, Link inched closer to Tetra, determined to regain the old Tetra he knew so well. He was already so close, but her radiant power was definitely something extremely daunting to fully withstand, and he understood how Mendoza thought it frightening. At this proximity, Tetra remained unsurprised and unchanged, so Link did the first thing that he could think of... He extended his arms and wrapped them around Tetra and held her in a tight embrace. For a few moments, the power irradiated from Tetra's body as well as the light seemed to heighten tremendously, but Link didn't even dare to lessen his embrace... not yet. For a few moments, Tetra's powers ran unbridled, and the ship even began to rock and rumble, as if threatening to fall apart due to the sheer power she wielded, but eventually, the light began to dim out, the surge of power turned weaker and weaker, and everything began to retread back into Tetra. As the light fully dimmed out, Tetra's intricate dress also vanished, leaving her with her old pirate clothes, though her hair remained loosened up and flopped down as if it lost some life.

"Link... I..." Before Tetra could say another word, her eyes began feeling heavy and her feet failed her, forcing Link to tighten his grip to avoid having her fall to the ground. It seemed using such tremendous power had tired her beyond belief and she couldn't handle it, so she couldn't help it slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

"No way! I don't believe it!" Gonzo exclaimed loudly as he stopped his hammock from rocking.

"Miss Tetra... She really turned into Princess Zelda right in front of you and Mendoza?" Mako wondered, still finding the tale rather tall to believe.

Link nodded furiously, hoping that his comrades would understand him and know that there was no reason for he to trick them about something like this. It seemed that convincing the lot in the cabins was going to be tougher than he thought.

"Guys... why is it so hard to believe... ?" Zuko interjected. "Miss Tetra... was pooped when Link brought her... and Menzoda... he got whoever was left of his crew... and ran the opposite direction from us. It all fits, doesn't it...?"

"I just thought this ability of hers was something she could control better, and she could call it whenever she needed it." Gonzo commented.

"Or conversely, I thought those powers represented a more political standpoint." Mako added. "She IS the princess, after all."

"Well... I guess that whatever it was, we will probably not understand now. Not like this anyway." Senza interjected. "Those questions are better left for another time. Meanwhile, I think it's best to let Miss Tetra sleep... and to get some rest ourselves. We've had a long day."

"Oh wait." Mako said before anybody even dared lay down. He then took a bag from his stuff and handed it to Link. "Here. I thought you should hold on to this for now." Link looked inside the bag and saw the Goddesses' Compass and the Ancient Hyrulian Book neatly arranged. "They were hidden inside the wall right by Miss Tetra's bed, and I carried them with me to prevent Mendoza's men to make off with them."

For the briefest of moments, Link felt a mixture of astonishment and lividness, but it eventually subsided. These important items were safe, and that's all that mattered, despite the way they were secured. Link thanked Mako with a quick handshake and went to his chest to set the objects along the rest of his items.

After that final exchange, everybody went to their hammocks to get a good night's sleep. The night had fallen some time ago, and until that moment, some of them were forcing their eyes open to catch the details of the events.

"You know... now that we're here..." Zuko muttered to Gonzo. "I can't help but think... We're missing something... something important..."

"... Nah, it's probably noth..." Gonzo began, but then he got that feeling, too. He shot up from his laying down position and began scanning the cabin to try and see if there was actually something that was wrong with that picture. Then he saw it... an empty hammock. "NIKO!"

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Guys? GUYS!"

Niko' voice had turned hoarse from calling his comrades. He had been tied up to the ship's bowsprit as if he were some common figurehead, and so far nobody had tried even checking there for signs of life, so he had to resort to yelling at them, but so far his efforts have been fruitless.

"GUYS! I'm over here! In front of the ship!" Niko kept yelling despite his throat hurting. "Please, guys! If you're ignoring me on purpose, it's not very funny! I'm cold, and that weird man-faced fish has been staring at me for the last hour or so!"

"Keh!" The man-faced fish retorted. "You're going to treat me as if I were some common fish? Why you have no manners, now have you? I am the great chart-writing Fishman... or at least one of his cousins. And I'll have you know that we've been working for generations with fellow lost sailors so they could find their way back home, and we even helped the legendary hero once when he didn't even had a working chart in his pocket. So with that in light, you should..."

"Oh, that's just great." Niko sighed as the Fishman kept rambling about. "I'm being berated by a talking man-faced fish. Could this get worse?"

"I heard that!" The Fishman shouted.

**To Be Continued**

A/N: Some sad details on my MV on my profile page.


	15. Light Among The Darkness

It was REVIEW ANSWERIN' time, with the pipe, in the library!

lilgreenfox: If you still wanna send me the art, feel free, though I'm not exactly going to do anything with it anymore. (well, except pimp it around on my profile and in forums, so...) Also, thanks for the comment, it makes me feel I have an actual standard to keep.

Trickster's Imagination: That's okay. I'm sure whatever you were doing was great. However, I'm not going to do much with it anymore, so don't exert yourself to get it to me.

u00dfrady: My first thought as I read your review... Ew. Only in crack can something like LinkxMedli work. Also, I thinkk you figured out my initial intention for this story. ZOoL was originally deviced to sound as close to a game as possible. Eventually, though, I branched off and took full advantage of the whole "written word" media, but that has not been fully forgotten. Hence, this chapter. In fact, If I could have my way, I would go to Nintendo right now and present them my idea of a 2-player coop Zelda just like this, complete with online multi, different character control, continuity nods, etcetera, etcetera. But, I'm dirt poor, and I don't think they'll listen to me, so here I am. (Oh, and about the turn of events... it was interesting to me too. Talk about writing by the seat of my pants with a hint of A:TLA for good measure.)

_The Legend of Zelda_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 15:

Light Among The Darkness

"What manner of place is this?"

The pirates gaped in awe at the magnificently large island southwest from Waarheid. This island looked like a large mountain from its western side, but showed its hollow interior from its eastern side. Inside, there was nothing but a series of intricate ruins and a bridge that led nowhere, but there was nothing that really resembled a building nor a proper entrance. It was as though the island went out of its way to show it didn't feature anything of value within it.

"That, my dear comrade, is an island." Nudge explained to the still bewildered Mako.

"I know that!" Mako shot back. "What I want to know is what kind of purpose does this island serve us."

"Beats me." Senza interjected. "But it's Miss Tetra's orders. Link's in charge of the compass now, and he's supposed to lead us where we need to go."

"Well, fine place he led us to, then." Nudge added. "This island's about as interesting as the sole of Niko's boots."

"Hey!" Niko shouted, feeling offended. "I'll have you know that my boots now have a special comfort sole for those long treks. We'll see who has the most beaten-up feet by the time this adventure's over."

"Again I say... boring." Nudge repeated.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." Niko brushed Nudge's comments off. "However, I do trust Link with all my heart, and he would never steer us wrong."

"Well..." Nudge said, eying Niko mischievously. "If you love him so much, why don't ya marry him?" This last comment garnered myriad laughter from the pirates and flustered an angered Niko.

"Ha. ha." Niko said sarcastically.

"Ok, ok, guys. That's enough. Leave the swabbie alone." Gonzo interjected, enforcing his rank over the rest to stop the needless bickering. "Now while it's true that Link is now our chart man, while Miss Tetra is recovering I act in her behalf and any orders I give must be obeyed on the spot."

"Gonzo, calm down. You're not captain yet." Mako interrupted, deflating his ego on the way. "And it's not like Miss Tetra is unconscious or anything. She's just recovering and she can hear your bellowing just fine."

"What?" Gonzo suddenly panicked and started to look all around the ship for signs of his captain. "Where? WHERE?"

Niko took a good, hearty laugh out at Gonzo's expense, knowing full well that Tetra was nowhere above deck, but choosing to keep quiet to perpetuate the first mate's strain.

"Just know that I would never do anything without your permission, Miss Tetra!" Gonzo shouted, still unaware of where exactly Tetra could be. "Regardless... You should know Link is following on Miss Tetra's leads, which means that if it were our Captain giving us coordinates, chances are we would still end up here, and if it were our Captain you wouldn't go around talking trash, would you?"

"... Guess not." Mako reasoned.

"Well... all right." Nudge relented. "It's not like we didn't haven't done this sort of thing already. Remember that one time we beached on a small, flat island? It only had one mound of dirt in the middle... and it turns out it was hiding the biggest treasure we'd seen so far! We partied like nobody's business that night. Good times, good times."

"Link!" Gonzo called the green-garbed kid, which was on top of the crow's nest alongside Zuko to get a better look at the hollow-looking island. "We'll be getting ready up here. You go and call Miss Tetra, tell her we're here and see if she will join us."

Link nodded and promptly jumped from the crow's nest and grabbed onto the supporting ropes, sliding down to the deck and landing with a running start straight to the door that led to the lower decks. Once inside, he walked to the frame of Tetra's room and knocked on the wall nearby. While the way in was open and he could get in just fine, no crew member dared enter it without first announcing themselves.

"Come in." Tetra's voice rang from inside her room. When Link entered the room, he couldn't help but notice how eerily calm it all was. Everything looked like it was set: Tetra's bag was made up as usual, and her instruments and weapons were hung up on the wall ready to be equipped... but Tetra herself was looking anything but ready. She was sitting on a chair, her hair still drooping down, and she was staring at her reflection on the mirror as if her mind was somewhere outside of what they were set to do that day. Link decided to approach her carefully and try not to startle her as he tried to get her attention.

"Link." Tetra suddenly said, inadvertently deflating Link's lungs, as well as his attempt to tactfully address her. Her voice was subdued and lacking her usual fiery style. "Last time... you know, three days ago... when, you know, all that happened..." She hesitated to continue, knowing what she had to ask. "Was I... did I look... frightening? At all?" Tetra looked at Link almost sideways with an apprehensive, halfway scared look, waiting anxiously for an answer.

Link thought about the events of that day... Seeing Tetra suddenly transformed like that was astonishing, to say the least. He clearly remembered Captain Mendoza was visibly scared, though it was probably karma biting him back in that part. In the end, Link faced Tetra and with a small smile on his face he shook his head.

"I thought you'd think that way." Tetra continued, removing her gaze from Link and focusing more on her own fidgeting hands. "It's just... it felt scary to me. I was frightened I could lose control. If I ever lost control back there... I don't know what could've happened with me... or with you." Tetra fidgeted with her hands faster and faster as she became more nervous over the real perils they faced before, as

well as her near-uncontrollable power. Then, she covered her head with one hand in clear frustration, her composure on the brink of collapsing. "Only thinking about it... how could I live with myself if I were to do something unforgivable? Just the thought of losing myself and harming myself, or any of my crewmen, or even _you_... How could I... how could... I...?"

Tetra suddenly stopped. She removed her hand from her face to see with her own eyes what Link was doing. He had approached Tetra and decided to hold her free hand with both his hands, looking straight at Tetra with the most sincere, comforting, understanding, _loving_ gaze in his eyes. In that moment, Tetra's gaze was locked onto Link, and Link's gaze was locked onto Tetra, and there was nothing else worthwhile to them. They were the only real thing in the world to each other. Unconsciously, they began to lean closer and closer to each other.

[KNOCK! KNOCK!]

"Miss Tetra..." Zuko called from the door frame. He took a peek inside and noticed that Link was still inside, helping Tetra get ready by rummaging through her chest (which was across the room from where she was sitting) for some important items, and Tetra herself was finishing up on her hair bun, her hair almost completely covering her face for the baggy-eyed pirate. "Link... Gonzo said we're ready. We're waiting for you."

"Ok, thanks." Tetra said hastily. "Link, go and, uh, make sure the compass is in your stuff. I'll, uh, be there in a sec, all right?"

With those quick words, Link rushed out of Tetra's room and towards the cabins' general direction, going past Zuko, who was still standing there stoically.

"Well... all right." Zuko confirmed. "I'll tell him... we'll wait for you..." And just as he appeared, he left for the top deck to join the rest of the pirates.

Fortunately for Tetra and Link, Zuko did not seem to notice their beet-red flustered faces.

* * *

It took a while to walk all the way up the bridge to reach the more level area of the island (climbing the steep walls were out of the question), but the Great Sea pirates were finally at the doorstep of their next adventure. Or, they would be if there was any sort of door within the ruins and pillars. They ran the entire perimeter of the island, but there was nothing close to an entrance, not even one of those "rat holes" around Waarheid.

"It's like the only thing in here is this large boulder-thing." Niko commented. "And I don't think we have enough bombs to blow it to pieces." He then took a long, thoughtful look at the humongous rock in the middle of the island and pondered on it. "Maybe... Yeah, I think cannonballs will work! Let me check... whoa!"

"Don't you dare waste our cannonballs on this." Gonzo reprimanded as he caught Niko's arm before the buck-toothed pirate could run off to the ship. "It's too huge for our stuff."

"Were you really following the compass, Link?" Tetra asked her partner with a hint of alarm and anger in her voice. "I wouldn't like this to be a worthless trip, you know." Upon this, Link quickly defended his position by showing her the Goddesses' Compass, which was going haywire right at that place, figuring that if there was something wrong, it had to be the compass and not him.

"Maybe there's a secret to this place." Mako wondered as he was knocking on the boulder to see if he could find out some way to progress further. "Maybe a song will move it, or some special item has to be fitted somewhere, or perhaps one would need to..."

Suddenly, Mako cut his speech short. His eyes opened wide in shock, and he began gritting his teeth upon seeing what had just happened. "Guys... Guys!" He cried. When the rest of the crew turned to him, they also saw in shock how Mako's arm was stuck halfway into the boulder. Mako began to frantically pull his arm with all his strength, and soon Gonzo and Nudge grabbed hold of him and pulled as well. Their combined strength was fortunately enough to free Mako with his limb intact and with nothing more than a slight scrape from the fall back.

"Wh... what was that?" Niko yelped after witnessing the bizarre event.

"It tried to pull me in." Mako managed to say. "There's something about that boulder... or whatever's beyond it... that wanted me whole."

The pirate began murmuring amongst themselves, wondering if it had been a mistake to be there, at least at that moment. "Maybe this is some sort of trap." Senza wondered. "We're no strangers to being subject to those, after all. We know at least that someone is after us, so this could be one of their traps." Senza's reasoning made the pirates feel even more uneasy. Even Tetra, who would usually be gung-ho about entering the unknown, was looking rather nervous and uncertain about what to do in this situation.

Link was looking at his comrades, and he was getting increasingly confused and annoyed by their attitude. He sometimes wondered if they would have survived half of what he had faced in the past. A bee and a pack of wolves is one thing, but if they battled the likes of a giant ghost, or a two-headed dragon, they would have their work cut out for them. Sighing slightly, he moved in between the crew and faced the place where Mako's arm got stuck, and he swung his Grappling Hook towards it. As he predicted, the Grappling Hook went through the boulder... but when Link pulled to retrieve it, the hook was stuck firmly somewhere inside the boulder area. Link pulled with all his strengths, but the Grappling Hook did not budge even an inch. The pirates looked at him quizzically, and Tetra was staring rather confused, to which Link could only answer with an awkward shrug while rising what he was holding of his Grappling Hook. Suddenly, the hook was pulled from inside the boulder with great force, which dragged Link on the way, and in a flash, he had disappeared from the others' view.

"_LINK!_" Tetra shrieked as her eyes filled up in panic, and without thinking it over she rushed to the portion of the boulder where Link disappeared to, and with a running jump she disappeared in much the same way Link did.

"What?! Captain!" Gonzo yelled. He then turned to the rest of the crew. "We can't just stay here, guys! He have to go and rescue them!"

"Well, yeah. I know we must." Nudge commented. "But we can't just leave the ship unattended. Someone should stay behind and..."

"Already thought of that!" Niko interrupted, his resolve fired up again after seeing Link's disappearance. "The Chomps will take care of any intruders. Now I say let's go!" He declared, and ran triumphantly towards the invisible portal, dragging Nudge along.

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" Nudge managed to say before both he and Niko disappeared into the boulder. The remaining four stared at each other strangely for a moment, but eventually their resolve began to build up again and jumped into the boulder as well.

* * *

"Oof!"

Due to her entry speed, Tetra ended up falling nose first on the floor. It took her a short while to compose herself from the pain, but she eventually managed to sit up and finally take a good look at where she was. Right in front of her was Link, who seemed more interested in his Grappling Hook than her sudden appearance. He shook the rope portion a few times and let it limp down, apparently looking where or why did it stuck in the first place.

"Link!" Tetra exclaimed happily after noticing he was relatively unharmed. Her happiness was soon extinguished, however, when she remembered why were they in this predicament to begin with. "You stupid, hot-blooded, nearsighted, bumbling fool!" She began to insult the green-clothed hero in her fury. "What possessed you to do such a foolishly foolish foolishness? I can't believe you actually wanted to get inside... inside..." She stopped her berating for a moment to look more intently at the place where they were. "Where exactly are we, anyway?"

The area they were looked eerily like the ruins in the island they were just before, except the whole area was enclosed, the boulder in the middle was conspicuously missing, it had such dim lighting it made everything look darkened and tough to discern, though four brightly-colored doorways were easily distinguishable from the darkness and seemed to be unlocked. They had somehow traveled to the parallel dimension of the ruins. They were now inside...

**The Dark Realm Chambers**

"Well... this place really got the shaft when it came to decorating." Tetra commented. She began walking over to the pillars, where she noticed some sort of message carved in one. Due to the darkness, it was hard to read, but she somehow managed to understand most of it.

"Hmm... it says here: 'Four doors surround you, a challenge lies behind each. One is not impossible, the rest beyond your reach. Choose right, you pass, choose wrong, you'll pay. Enter if you dare, survive if you may.' And... the rest is too dark to read." She said, squinting as best as she could to try to read the message. "I get the gist of it, though. We have to find the right way, otherwise, we'll be stuck until we find it. It's just a matter of trial and error, then." She then decided to try one of the doorways and see what they had to face. The doors were nearly identical to each other, except for some carvings of faces of young men looking at different directions and roman numbers which labeled the doorways as 'I', 'II', 'III' and 'IV'. "I guess I'll start with number one, then." She said as she made to open doorway 'I' alone while Link stood behind trying to read the rest of the message.

No sooner had Tetra managed to lift the doorway that she felt a tug forward... then a much stronger tug backward that knocked her on her back. Link rushed over to her and removed the grappling hook off her vest with sort of a panicked look. "Link! What is wrong with...?" Before Tetra could finish, she saw it. As the door began to close, the room beyond was infested with nothing but Floormasters. Tetra must have counted at least 10 or 15 before the doorway closed completely, shutting them away from the disembodied hands. Link and Tetra probably sat on the floor staring at doorway 'I' for a full minute before their collective breaths calmed down enough to think cohesively. Tetra looked at Link with a rather shocked and frightened face, to which Link responded with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. Link motioned Tetra to follow him back to the writing in the pillar, and then he pulled his bow and arrow and, using his Magical Glove, he powered the arrow with fire, and he lighted the rest of the message using the flame's light.

"Uh... 'Adventurer beware.' Oh, now they tell us." Tetra commented, much to Link's annoyance, as she checked the rest of the message. "'Pick a door wisely, for you cannot turn back. Pay heed to the clue, And you'll be well on track.' Pay heed to the clue... What clue? there's no clue here." She then began looking around the pillar, helped by Link holding the flaming arrow, until she found a new message written near the bottom of a different pillar. "Could this be...? Let's see. 'Make sure you walk with your eyes on the floor before walking through your first door.' How do you make sure you see where you're walking?" Tetra asked Link.

Link wondered for a moment, thinking possible ways of effectively walk while looking at one's feet. He then took a few steps back and tried to demonstrate by tilting his head down enough to see his feet while he walked towards Tetra. "Yeah, that looks good. But how does that help us?" She wondered. When she started looking around for some other sort of clue, she looked at the doorways again, and noticed the roman numbering, as well as the faces again. Intrigued, she studied the faces carefully, taking special mention of where they were looking. The face in door 'I' was looking right back at her, while the face in door 'II' was showing its profile to her, and the face in door 'III' was looking downward, and finally the face in door 'IV', while facing down, was looking upwards. Tetra and Link looked carefully at the faces in doors 'III' and 'IV', and after a short deliberation, they decided in unison to go through door 'III'.

"Well, there's no going back." Tetra said as she put her hand on the door, ready to lift it open. "I hope this is the right door." Then, both of them opened the door, and while there wasn't anything immediately apparent about the room beyond, there was once again a strange force that pulled the pair into the room forcefully. Once inside, the doorway shut behind them, and strong iron bars emerged from the floor, effectively locking them inside. The room was way smaller than the previous one, and its floor was made of dirt. From the dirt floor, six long, lanky, misshapen, gray arms protruded, its hands appearing to want to reach the ceiling. Across the room was another door, tightly barred as the door behind them. It became obvious what they had to do to progress.

"We either have to give these hands something, or simply hack them to pieces." Tetra suggested. She pulled out a Deku Nut ("I can't believe we still have a bunch of these") and started to approach one of the arms with her hands outstretched. For a moment, the arm started to bend and carefully approach Tetra and her offering. "That's it. Don't be afraid. I'm just a ragtag pirate princess, is all." Then, in the blink of an eye, the arm grabbed the Deku Nut, threw it on the ground, stunning Tetra in place, and grabbed tightly to her head.

Link was quick to spring into action, but he was suddenly stopped when the ground below him shook and a large, gray creature emerged from it. It looked as ugly and misshapen as the arms in the room, with stumpy arms and a long neck stretched straight upwards. Link had just turned around in time to see the long neck lower towards him as the creature approached, and it didn't take long for him to be face to face with the creepy Dead Hand.

The Dead Hand tilted his head slightly, curious about its green prey on the floor, and then he opened its mouth in a most unnatural and disturbing way, creating a gap that was way bigger that what any normal mouth could create. Before the Dead Hand took a bite at Link, though, the young hero managed to pull out an arrow and stabbed the creature with it, making it squirm and raise its head in pain and giving Link enough time to stand back up and pull out his sword to attack properly. The Dead Hand approached Link again to try gnawing at him again, but this time, Link was ready and slashed at the horrendous creature with his sword multiple times, making it squirm in pain and eventually relent on its pursuit and burrowing itself back below ground.

Link thought things were looking up when the ground shook up again. He jumped out of the way... but as it turned out, the Dead Hand did not emerge close to Link, but quite far from him. Furthermore, the creature's target had shifted from the green hero... to the young pirate that was trapped and frozen in one if its appendages. Link quickly tried to get the creature's attention, but no matter what, the Dead Hand would not lower its head for Link. Slashing it on the body didn't seem to have any effect, either. The only weak spot was the head, and Link knew when it was going to lower it. After thinking it through for a moment, he apologized preemptively to Tetra for what he was about to do.

The Dead Hand approached Tetra slowly but surely, and when it was close enough, the creature's neck bent, and its head faced Tetra's unmoving face. It tilted its head slightly, curious at the unflinching victim before it, but still, it could not help but proceed as it opened its mouth in a most unnatural manner. Just then, a fast, freezing arrow with trace amounts of blond hair lodged itself on the Dead Hand's face. Before the creature raised its head up in pain, it saw Link standing right behind Tetra with a bow in hand and outfitted with a green glove. The ice in the arrow expanded more and more through the Dead Hand's body, and its neck and face were eventually stuck in a writhing, painful mode, but just before it could be completely encased in ice, the creature managed to find the strength to burrow itself back under the ground.

"Yah!" Tetra yelled. Evidently, the Deku Nut's effect had run out and she was free to move, which she first used to slash the arm that was holding her and make it let go. "What was that thing? It was like it thought I was some sort of snack for 'im. And yes, I saw it all. I was frozen, not blind." She said as she checked herself to see if she was alright... and it was then that she noticed that her hair was undone from her usual bun. "This... when did this happen? Wait... How close did you throw that arrow?" Tetra asked Link, who in turn began to look around apologetically.

Before Tetra could say another word, though, the ground shook slightly, though there was nothing following the small quake. "Wait... don't tell me that thing's not done for yet." Tetra questioned as the ground shook slightly once more. The ground shook a third time, yet there was no indication of any action by Dead Hand. "What is it waiting for?" Tetra asked. Link looked around to see what could possibly trigger the creature's surfacing. Then, he noticed how the outstretched arms twitched around occasionally, and he wondered for the first time why were they there to begin with. He approached one slowly, and the arm began bending towards Link. Seeing this, Link rummaged through his bag and positioned himself to be grabbed by an arm. The arm grabbed, alright, but when it noticed there was no actual resistance, it tried to lift the victim up, only to find him too light. While the arm was trying to figure out what was wrong, Link was on the ground, taking a few steps back and waiting for the bomb the arm took as bait to blow up.

When the grand explosion happened and the hand became a mess of gray on the floor, the ground shook up greatly, and a halfway frozen Dead Hand emerged, approaching Link and Tetra. Link prepped his sword and elbowed Tetra to coordinate a dual attack... but Tetra looked at him rather strangely apprehensive, and actually took a step back. "Eh... well... you take 'im. You have this, I know." She said, her voice trembling slightly. Link stared at her for a moment almost incredulously, wondering where did she leave her courage and her will to fight. There was no time to ponder such questions, though, as the Dead hand was about to grab a bite of them, and Link needed to spring into action. He began hacking away at the Dead hand's head mercilessly, and the creature predictably stretched his neck upwards beyond Link's reach and made to retreat. Link, however, took out the Chained Lance and skewered the Dead Hand across its body as to prevent him from leaving this time. He then climbed the chains and the Dead Hand's body, reaching its head and giving it the final punishment.

The Dead Hand gave one final horrendous scream of pain before its neck limped down and its body fell as much as the Chained Lance allowed it to. Also, the remaining stretched arms writhed in pain before regressing into the ground for good. Afterwards, the door leading them further inside the area opened, but not so the initial door, as per the instructions warned. At this moment, Link faced Tetra with an astonishingly disappointment, expecting some sort of explanation. "Uh... What?" Tetra asked, trying to look innocent as she resorted to fix her hair in a ponytail. Link, feeling exasperated, threw his arms to where the Dead Hand was still being held up by the Chained Lance. "Oh, well, I... you know, it was just... the Deku nut. I was still reeling from it, that's all. I feel better now, though, so let's move forward." She finished, followed by hurriedly making her way to the opened doorway. Link, however, stood his ground, not really believing what she had just said.

Upon noticing that Link was not following her, Tetra turned around, with the utmost annoyed look on her face. "I said MOVE!" She yelled, making Link promptly run to her side as they went through the doorway.

The next room was identical to the original, with its pillars, its darkness, and its doors surrounding it. There were, however, five doors this time: one from where they entered, and four new ones labeled 'V', 'VI', 'VII' and 'VIII'. There were also distinguishable markings on the doors, only instead of faces, there was a flute on door 'V', a mask on door 'VI', a rod with four distinct circles on door 'VII' and a harp on door 'VIII'.

"Which way should we go?" a voice rang from the darkness. This alerted Link and Tetra, but they immediately recognized it as a familiar voice. They decided to walk towards the source of the voice, and as the darkness parted in front of them, the backs of Niko and Nudge came into view.

"I dunno, Niko." Nudge said. "I don't understand what it means with that clue. And you read it already, that if we choose wrong, we'd better kiss out booty goodbye."

"Not my booty!" Niko whined. "I like my booty. I mean, it's not much of a booty, but it's mine and I like it."

"Just like you to be thinking about treasure at a time like this." Tetra barged in on the conversation, startling the duo and making them take deep breaths to recover.

"Captain! Link!" Niko shouted happily. "I knew we'd find you." He then went to hug Tetra, but thought better of it and shifted tactics to shake Link's hand.

"So I gather this room's like the last one." Tetra said, considering what she heard them talking about. "four doors, three of them are traps, we have only one chance and a cryptic clue, right?"

"Right. Wait..." Nudge stopped when he noticed what his captain's words implied. "You mean there's more than one room like this?"

"Well, we've only been to one before this one." Tetra explained. "We're not sure how many are there, but I hope there aren't a lot. Last one was tough." She said while shuddering as she tried not to remember being so dangerously close to the Dead Hand's face. "So... what's the clue in this one?" She asked, willing to change the subject.

"Something about... eh... well..." Niko tried to remember, but was somehow unable to fully form the words. "Here, it's better if you read it yourself."

Niko let Link and Tetra to a pillar that had writings marked on it. Up first was the exact same explanation and warning from the other room. The clue, however, was very different from the first one. "Here we go." Tetra said as she began reading aloud. "Let's see... 'A time of past and future, and an instrument to use. A destructive rise to power, and a feisty kid's ruse. Think well and ask yourself what was done before. You blow a note too hard and you won't see more.'" Tetra stood back as Link inspected the clue on his own as she thought about what she just read. "Well, that certainly made no sense."

"It makes some, at least" Niko corrected. Tetra eyed him cautiously, but the buck-toothed pirate talked on. "You see, it talks about an instrument and notes, so I reckon it has to do with either the harp door or the flute door. The rise to power and the kid's ruse doesn't do anything for me, though." He commented.

Tetra had a lead, and this helped their chances, but she really did not want to leave anything to chance considering the risks involved. She looked back and forth between door 'V' and door 'VIII', between the markings of the flute and the harp, all while she recited the clue to herself over and over. "Past and future... a destructive... think well... what was done... Wait!" She called the others' attention so she could run her idea through them. "What was done before? That may be it. Do you know what was created first? Was it flutes, or was it the harp?"

"Beats me." Niko answered sincerely. This was corroborated by a simple shrug by Link.

"You'd be better off asking Mako about that one." Nudge said. "I don't know a lick about music. Only that you hit some with your hands, and you blow on those flute things, and of course there's the gong, and..."

"Wait..." Tetra interrupted Nudge as a new idea hatched on her brain. "That may be it. 'You blow a note too hard...' That was talking about the flute right there." She then walked to the front of door 'V', fully expecting the rest to follow. "Wat are you waiting for? This is our door."

"Are you... sure, Captain?" Niko wondered, still unsure of what door to pick himself.

" Come on, think about it." Tetra reasoned. "We're talking about musical instruments, so that leaves out the mask and the rod. You blow on a flute to play it, and there's a mention of it in the clue, and obviously five is before eight." She finished, pointing to the roman number 'V' to prove her point.

"Well, she does make a convincing case there." Nudge concurred with his captain and walked over to where Tetra was standing. Link also took a space near Tetra after finding little to debate about.

"Oh, fine! Be that way!" Niko suddenly and inexplicably exploded. "Go on and leave me behind. I don't care. I'll figure out this thing all on my own, and I will become the sole survivor! Me, Niko, the great adventurer! I'll be the greatest pirate the whole world has ever known and that day you will regret not following me! You will see!"

"Come along, Niko." Nudge called, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Uh... coming." Niko suddenly said, his fury gone as quickly as it arrived.

* * *

The next room was small and square, the ceiling was low and among the solid stone floor were mounds of dirt placed apparently without rhyme or reason for being. The group of four began looking around for any way to open the door beyond, focusing on locating any secret switches on the walls. It was Niko, eventually, that decided to explore the mounds of dirt for any hidden clues, when a sickly blue arm emerged suddenly, passing within inches from Niko's head. The small pirate jumped out of the way in shock, his squeal being an alarm to his comrades who turned just in time to see the arm become two, and the two arms prop an equally sickly blue body up. The other mounds of dirt produced similar bodies, sickly blue and zombie-like, with glazed over, beady-eyed faces which sported large piercings in their oversized ears. As the bodies began to walk towards the pirates, they emitted a shrill scream high enough to freeze the average person in pure fear.

"Oh, no." Nudge whimpered, his eyes turning large from his fear. "Not redeads." Link nodded solemnly, sharing the man's sentiments toward the situation. Link's seen his share of redeads in the past, but no matter how many times he's successfully fought them, they're never a comfortable thing to face. The redeads inched closer and closer to the pirates, and thus Link, Nudge and Niko resigned themselves to a forced fight and drew their blades. Tetra, however, took a step back for every step the redeads took forward.

"Eh... you guys take them." Tetra explained, not sounding exactly forceful, but not wanting to cooperate either. Link stared at her incredulously, wondering if she really was about to pull that stunt again. "No, no." Tetra continued, trying to sound innocent and calm. "I'm not feeling well. I... I think I shouldn't have eaten that extra biscuit last night. I'll just hamper you here. Go on without me." She promptly excused herself and stepped back into the shadows. Shaking his head in exasperation, Link turned back around and faced the redeads with Niko and Nudge.

Nudge stepped back some to avoid getting frozen by the redeads, dragging Niko along. Link, on his part, pulled his bow and shot a couple of fire-powered arrows, which helped stun the blue bodies for a moment. Nudge took this opportunity and launched Niko towards the redeads sabre-first, and the short pirate let out a screeching battle cry of his own before landing and dealing a few nasty swipes at one of the enemies. Nudge himself rushed over to another one and gave him a good what-for, while Link decided to use his Skull Hammer to rapidly dispose of the other two redeads. Before long, the trio managed to finish their work, and the redeads returned to the earth from whence it emerged.

"Well, at least that wasn't too hard." Nudge commented, cleaning his sabre and sheathing it. As soon as he did so, however, a lanky arm dressed entirely in white and brown wraps burst out of the dirt mounds, startling him silly and making him stagger as he drew out his blade again. Three other mounds also produced wrapped arms, and eventually, four bodies crawled out of the dirt and got to their feet. Similar in shape to the redeads, these bodies were completely wrapped in the white and brown dressings, making it incapable for anybody to see any eyes or mouths or any other distinguishing features. Far from calming, this feature made them even more unsettling than the redeads themselves.

"Oh, don't tell me." Nudge began again. "I've heard of these things before, but never thought they existed."

"What are they?" Niko asked.

"They're Gibidos." Nudge answered. "They're worse than redeads. Much tougher. Or so I heard. I haven't faced one of these until now."

"So..." Tetra interjected, mostly due to her desire to get out of that room as fast as possible. "Any suggestions, mister Nudge?"

Nudge thought about it for a few seconds, but his inexperience did not do him any favors. In the end, he simply suggested one thing. "Clobber them?"

"That's as good a strategy as we'll hear. Get 'em, boys!" Tetra ordered, retreating once again to the back row.

Despite his enduring annoyance, Link had to forget about Tetra's uncooperative attitude for a moment and concentrate on the Gibidos. He pulled out his Chained Lance and aimed to capture all four creatures in the same way he cleaved the Dead Hand. Unfortunately, he only grabbed one, while he barely grazed two more and missed the last one by a wide margin. Still, he took this in stride and left the trapped Gibido alone while he tackled a free monster and Niko and Nudge did their best to fend off the other two. Niko began running and jumping wildly around the room, decided to avoid being frozen by the Gibido's scream and slashing at them every chance he got. His agility and nigh-eternal energy really showed up when he jumped from each of the four Gibidos' heads to the walls and all over again without touching the floor for even a second. Nudge began using his bombs and launching them at the Gibidos, and while the flying wrappigs proved he was indeed hitting the bulls-eye, the creatures barely flinched, and still walked towards them, hands outstretched.

At one point, Link had to raise his shield to avoid being gnawed at by a Gibido. This, however, gave him the great opportunity to slice its feet clean off and force it to drop the the ground with no chance at restoring himself. Niko took advantage of this and provided two well-placed slashes across the Gibido's head, which ultimately made the creature stop moving. After Nudge saw this, he whistled for Niko, and when the small pirate rushed to him, Nudge launched him blade-first at another Gibido's head with pinpoint precision. When Niko retrieved his sabre from the Gibido's head, the monster was not moving anymore. Link saw this, and proceeded to jump on the captive Gibido and slice its head for all it was worth, and when the final Gibido was getting too close as he finished the job, he swung his sword to the full extent of his reach and cracked its melon.

When all was said and done, the Gibidos were absorbed back into the dirt mounds and the door that progressed further on was unlocked. "There you go." Tetra said, clapping slowly. "There's nothing you cannot do with the power of teamwork!" Her rather upbeat comment was met by confused stares from Niko and Nudge, and a quietly angered Link. Link in particular was finding less and less reason to feel comfortable around such an environment where he felt he was pulling unneeded weight, and Tetra's obviously shoddy excuses were not helping matters here.

"... What?" Tetra asked calmly, as if there was nothing wrong happening. "Look, if you're confused or angry because I took a back seat to the action just now, don't be. You guys are more muscle that I can be anyway. Even Niko." At this, Niko beamed and showcased his wimpy muscles around. "Well, maybe not Niko, but..." This made Niko pout. "anyway, we could talk about this, or we could spend our time finishing this place, and as for me, I say let's move."

* * *

"I still say it's this one."

"I beg to differ, but everything points to this one."

"This one..."

"No, no, listen to me. This one's the right one."

"Look, there's the rest!" Niko exclaimed excitedly.

"Sounds like they're arguing." Tetra inferred from the guys' banter. "I'd wager the can't agree which door to take."

"More doors?" Nudge whined as he saw the same design as the previous room. "Who designed this place? I'll bet they're sadistic, have owl eyes and own a door business!"

Tetra and her group walked over to where Gonzo, Senza, Mako and Zuko stood looking around the area. "So what's the status, Gonzo?" Tetra asked as a way of greeting them.

"Oh? Ah, Miss Tetra!" Gonzo said as soon as he recognized Tetra and the others amongst the darkness. "I almost didn't recognize you, what with that hairstyle and all. What happened to your bun, anyway?"

At this, Tetra began fidgeting uncomfortably with her hair while Link opted to look far, far away. "You know... I thought this could be a good new look for me. What do you think?"

Now it was Gonzo's turn to look awkward and being incapable of finding a proper place to look at. "Well, anyway, we're at a standstill here. We just can't get ourselves to choose."

"Which door to choose?" Nudge asked. "I know, we've seen this before." He went ahead and took a look at the four new doors on the room. These doors were marked 'IX', 'X', 'XI' and 'XII' and had markings of four identical swords, a large leaf, a bunch of different-shaped triangles, and a jar, respectively. "This is just my guess, but I say we go with the triangles."

"See?" Mako said, pulling out a small kitchen knife and a sandwich. "I told you the triangle was the one to go. It makes for the perfect finger snack shape, too." He then began cutting the sandwich in four equally-shaped triangles.

"Wait... WHAT?!" Tetra shouted upon seeing this. "All that bickering... it was about food?"

"It IS lunch time." Senza reasoned, and pulled another sandwich. "We saved you guys this one."

Tetra was about to counter and say that they were not in any position to stop, but in reality her stomach was starting to grumble, so she decided to take a small break and enjoy the snack like the rest did. After the break, it became time to get serious about the situation again.

"Here's the clue, Captain." Niko pointed out from an almost completely obscured place in a pillar. "I just need some light and... Thanks, Link. You're a real buddy." He thanked when Link arrived with an arrow lighted on fire to let him see better. "Let's see... 'A new beginning, a change of winds. Friendships made of wood and wings. Convention's lost to creative things. To soaring the skies on gusted rings.' Gusted rings?"

"I can't make heads or tails of this one." Tetra lamented, rubbing her forehead and trying to think a plausible explanation. "New beginning... winds... friendships of wood and wings... What does it all mean?"

"Creative things..." Zuko pondered on the clue as well. "We could try thinking creatively..."

While this conversation was happening, Link became transfixed in the marking of door 'X'. Somehow, he had seen the leaf depicted in the door before, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Then again, with the stuff that's happened lately, he hasn't been thinking right a lot lately. But still, he had this nagging feeling there was something about this leaf that had special significance. After all, you could find thousands of leafs in a single tree alone.

And then, it hit him: The tree, the leaf, the gusts of wind... It all made sense to him. Link turned back to see the same befuddled faces as before, trying to figure out the clue or just simply shooting off random suggestions. To catch their attention, Link whistled in a most sharp manner, effectively interrupting every single train of thought at the same time, and when the pirates were looking at him, he simply pointed towards door 'X'.

"Are you suggesting this is it?" Tetra asked, inching closer to where Link stood right by the door. "How can you be cer... hey, that looks like your Deku Leaf, doesn't it?" She commented when she noticed the uncanny resemblance, to which Link nodded. "Wait, I get it. Your Deku Leaf can make you float in the air, ride gusts of wind, and you got it that time with that little wooden creature -who, by the way, I met not too long ago and sent you his best wishes- so that means the clue is most definitely about this door."

"But wait a minute..." Mako stopped the progress for a moment. "If this door is about your Deku Leaf, and the clue was trying to describe Link and the leaf... then what do these other doors mean, exactly?"

Link began wondering about this and began to extensively look at the rest of the markings. Though none of them seemed familiar to him, perhaps there was something about them that could trigger his memories and remind him of something he may be missing...

"That..." Tetra began. "...is a very nice question, and such a nice question requires careful thinking, which requires time... which we don't have." She thus brushed off Mako's intent to dig deeper into the subject and walked right to door 'X'. "Now, if we all agree this is our next door, let's all jump in and tackle the next challenge."

* * *

This next room was perfectly square, and it had three wide stretches of land that ran across to the other side of the room and had pits on either side of the land bridges. Tetra's group was already looking around cautiously, fully expecting something to come out and battle them, while Gonzo's group was talking about which path should they cross.

"Something tells me there's only one right path." Mako said. "Just like there was only one right door, there's bound to be one true path."

"But how should we know which one's the right one?" Gonzo asked.

"Well... we could always try sending Niko first." Gonzo suggested.

"Hey! I heard that!" Niko protested, fully aware of both sides of the discussion. He then returned to the discussion on Tetra's group. "So anyway, there's been a disgusting zombie thing with arms coming out of the dirt trying to eat you, and then we faced the disgusting redeads and Gibidos that were trying to eat us."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Tetra confirmed the story.

"So whatever's coming out of that pit, it's bound to be disgusting and will try to eat us." Nudge inferred from what he gathered. "Just to let you know, and I don't mean to criticize, but you pick some of the strangest places to go spelunking, Captain."

"Thanks, Nudge." Tetra shot back with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

"I volunteer..." Zuko spoke out, unraveling a long stretch of rope and tying himself up. "Hold on to the end... If anything happens... pull." He then gave the rope's end to Gonzo, who motioned for Senza to help him. Zuko then decided to try the center road and walked it slowly but surely, looking everywhere for signs of any foul play. Suddenly, a large shadow began enveloping Zuko completely and it grew larger and larger.

"Zuko, watch out!" Mako yelled as he pointed upwards to an indescribable mass that fell rapidly. Gonzo and Senza reacted quickly to the warning and pulled Zuko back with all their strength, which saved him from being crushed by the object. As the thing fell, however, it didn't look rock-solid. Rather, it looked more squishy and fluid than what they expected. "Is that..." Mako's question was answered when the thing bent forward, exposing its large circular mouth framed with razor-sharp teeth. "That's a Like-Like."

Link sighed in frustration and shuddered. He did not want to deal with any more Like-Likes, considering the last time he tried to battle one, he was stripped of his shield, his ammo, and his green clothes. Now there was an enormous version of the disgusting monster right in front of them, anxious to take in some unsuspecting victims. Thankfully, there were two other clean roads which they could take.

"Oh, no. Is that...?" Mako said with a sense of alarm. "Yeah, it is. More of them."

Before anybody could test the other roads, two more gargantuan Like-Likes fell from the ceiling and fell right in the middle of both roads and rendered them useless. As a trio, the Like-Likes began spinning around lazily, occasionally bending towards the pirates and exposing their sharply-toothed mouths to them.

"Yeah, this is bad." Nudge expressed, shaking his head in defeat. "If we even try to get close to them to fight them, they'll only suck us in and take out weapons, and that's if we're lucky." He then simply leaned on the wall and proceeded to stare gloomily at the disgusting trio. "I hate it when I'm right."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Senza asked, going through his inventory of items. "The closest thing we have for ranged weaponry are bombs, and they could simply eat them." He decided to try his theory and threw the bombs close to a Link-Like. True to what he said, the Like-Like ate the bomb like it was nobody's business... but after a few seconds, a muffled explosion was heard, and a small line of smoke emerged from the Like-Like's mouth. "Well, what do you know? They work. Come on, men! Unload your bombs on them!"

Thus, the pirates began throwing as many bombs as they could to the Like-Likes. The bombs that were not swallowed by the wobbly creatures merely exploded by them, causing extra external damage. This explosion extravaganza, however, only managed to make the Like-Likes angrier, and they began shifting towards the pirates, apparently undeterred by the myriad bombs assaulting them.

"What do we do now?" Niko asked, still busy trying to give the Like-Likes a heaping helping of explosions. "If they get any closer, we'll be in the explosion's range. There's gotta be another way."

Link thought quickly and whipped out his bow and arrow and began throwing fire-powered arrows at the Like-Likes. While the creatures were burning up nicely, they still moved forward without delay, only now they posed a bigger threat as bombs exploded on impact. Link switched tactics and shot ice-powered arrows to the Like-Likes, and while this did good to slow them down, as soon as a single bomb exploded, the ice shattered and the Like-Likes were good to go on their way. There was nothing in his repertoire that could stop them (he even left his boomerang at the ship), but he thought there had to be something else they could do.

And then he remembered Tetra, standing by in a corner.

"What? Me?" Tetra asked when Link suddenly pushed his bow to her hands. She took nervous looks at the weapon and began talking in a trembling, fearful tone. "Look, I don't know what you want, but I cannot fight now. It's... well... I'm not sure if I..." Before Tetra could say more, Link gave her the bow and a couple of arrows and pointed right to her light-blue glove. "B... but I... oh, you know I don't know magic. How magic can I be? Well, I'm as magic as a plain old set of beans, that's how." At this petty excuse, Link could only look at Tetra with an annoyed gaze. "You don't buy that, either? I don't blame you."

Hesitantly, she armed an arrow into the bow and aimed it at one of the Like-Likes. At this point, the pirates were beginning to hug the wall to avoid getting singed by the bomb explosions, and she recognized that time was running out. However, she sincerely doubted what she could do that Link couldn't. "But what can a simple arrow I throw be different than your arrows, Link?" She aimed, still doubting the real impact of a simple arrow, when...

"Think light."

"Light?" Tetra whispered, not sure where that came from. As soon as she did, however, the arrow powered up with a bright yellow light, a light so strong it lit up the whole room, exposing every crevice and imperfection on its walls and floor. Tetra became massively afraid of the arrow and let it fly without thinking. Fortunately, the arrow was already properly aimed at the Like-Likes, and thanks to the arrow's light-infused power, it cleaved right through the three Like-Likes, leaving traces of its light inside the creatures. Suddenly, the Like-Likes stopped suddenly, and as sudden as they entered the fray, they began dissolving as if they were liquid, with the bulk of their remains falling down the pits below.

"All right, Li... What?" Niko wondered as Link just shook his head and pointed at Tetra. "Captain? You did _that_? Well... I didn't know you had it in you!"

As the rest of the pirates began to realize what had happened, their looks changed from shocked to pleasantly surprised, and began congratulating their captain in unison. Tetra, however, did not seem to like any of their honest compliments, instead looking as if she had just stepped on a sharp rock. After a quick dismissal, the pirates began walking towards the now-opened door first, and she trailed behind them all.

"Link..." Tetra called her partner. "Look... if you must know, I just don't feel like I want to do this anymore." Link looked absolutely stunned by this. He had sincerely thought she was way past that point by now. "It's just... when it happened what happened back then, I was truly scared afterwards. I feel like if I even get the least fired up for a fight, I'm going to turn back and unleash on everything in my path. I hate that. I hate feeling like I can't control myself. I hate having these thoughts that any moment I could just mistake you or Gonzo or any of the others for an enemy and... Wham! Just like that." Tetra dropped her gaze to the floor, unwilling to look at Link's face anymore.

Link looked at Tetra with the utmost sincerity in his eyes, and wondered what he could do to help her get over this. There were no pages he could give, nor any brownies, nor anything proper that could calm her. However, he remembered there may be one thing he could show her that could show her that she was not, in fact, just about to lose control from her newfound powers. He put his hand under Tetra's chin and lifted her face, and then he pointed at himself.

"What do you mean? Look at you? Yes, you're here, but what does..." Tetra stopped herself mid-sentence, and slowly but surely began to realize what he was trying to explain to her. "You're here. You were there. You felt the massive power I unleashed back then, and I remember looking at you intently as well. But you're here. You didn't vanish or anything. I even recognized that scumbag Mendoza and let him live." As she realized these things, Link began nodding solemnly, and began leaning towards her. He then reached and grabbed her left hand, covered by the light-blue glove, with his right gloved hand, and raised them up, evoking a small, warm light from the point where the gloves met.

"These gloves... I've been wondering what they did." Tetra began reminiscing about the moment they found the pair of mismatched gloves in a dusty chest on the Abandoned Castle. "I had seen you use it already with your arrows, so I suspected you would figure out the entirety of their mystery." She took a good look at the glowing hands as the words of the message that was alongside the gloves returned to her as if she had just read it. "Together, their power will increase tenfold. However, a person alone cannot realize their full potential. Heh, It seems you did it." She finished, producing a small but profoundly sincere smile. "All right. I'll try to remember. I shan't go out of control if I don't let myself. But I want to ask you something, ok, Link? Please promise me to never leave my side. At least, until this is done."

Tetra reached into the clasped gloved hands with her right hand and grabbed hold of Link's hand. Link responded in kind, putting his left hand above hers, all while looking straight at her and nodding. After what seemed like a long time, Link shifted his gaze to the door they had yet to cross and pointed at it to Tetra. "_*Ahem*_ Yeah, we've got to finish this thing first." Tetra remembered. Their hands hesitantly parted, with Link quickly putting them behind his back as if searching for his weapons, and they crossed the path together.

* * *

"Captain... problem..." Zuko called as soon as he saw Tetra and Link emerge from the darkness. "The clue... none of us can figure it out. And the doors..." He then pointed to the four new doors marked 'XIII', 'XIV', 'XV' and 'XVI' and had drawings of a clouded moon over a wolf in a hill, a ravaging tornado on a sea, a bright sun over criss-crossing paths that led to certain specific places, and a rising sun over a crossroads, respectively.

"Well, what's the clue?" Tetra demanded to know what was the commotion all about. "Mako, can you tell me?"

"Well..." Mako scratched his head as he tried to remember the whole clue by memory. "It said 'The future is what you do, what you make of what you have, too. The night won't distract you, nor a storm will destroy your progress. Though there are many paths in the way, only one will allow you success. Do not fear anymore, for all paths will only return you up, but only one will lead you to the one thing you have fought and sought.' Well... more or less."

"So, in other words, we can just choose any door, and they won't be any instant-death traps on them..." Gonzo explained in simple words. "But we'll get booted out and will probably have to do the whole thing all over again."

"Ok... that just went from fun into straight-up aggravating." Niko commented when he caught what his superior was saying. "I don't want to be stuck doing this until we figure out the door we have to take."

"Don't worry, Niko. We'll figure this out." Tetra comforted the buck-toothed pirate and began working of what the clue wanted to tell them. "There was a part about the future, right? Now, we don't know the future, but we can make the future into whatever we can, right?"

"Right." Senza concurred. "The future is not set in stone... wait... it's not set in stone." He then went back to inspect the door markings. "Look -- look, guys, we have a cloudy moon and a howling wolf. That's pretty much real, right? And... and here we have a storm raging over the seas. We've seen our share of those to know this happens already. Here's a bright day with loads of paths, but they all lead somewhere. That's set in stone. So that leaves us... this." He then pointed to the last door. "This one has a rising sun, a new beginning, and has two roads with an undefined goal. It's like telling us that whichever those roads leads, they're uncharted territory and whatnot." He stopped only to see the rather bored reaction of his comrades. "Eh... anyway, I think this is the door. What do you say, Miss Tetra."

"Huh? Well..." Tetra was taken slightly aback by being forced to answer, but upon analyzing Senza's explanation, she saw not much room for error. At least, they could take it easy this time, and if they missed, they could just jump back another day after they resupplied. "Why not? Let's go in, everybody."

Thus, with no particular opposition from the rest of the pirates, everybody decided to enter through Door 'XVI', the door to the future.

* * *

The room inside was enormous and perfectly cylindrical. At the center, there was a hill with what looked like a large hole in its middle. This room, unlike the rest, was more brightly illuminated than the rest, and it didn't seem to have any other doors other than the one they entered, which was immediately barred as soon as the last pirate entered the place. Apart from the hill, there was nothing of particular interest in the room, so the pirates began climbing the hill and decided to inspect the hole.

"So, what do you think?" Nudge asked the rest. "Do you think we should throw in a bomb?"

"What? No!" Tetra reprimanded the outspoken pirate. "Think, man. If the treasure's down there, you'd just wreck it. No bombs, guys."

"Well, how about a Deku Nut?" Senza suggested. "There no risk in destroying the treasure, and the bright flash can help us see what's down there."

Tetra though about it for a moment. She then decided to retreat a few paces before addressing them again. "I guess there's no harm in that. Go on, throw one and tell me what you see."

Senza promptly threw one of his Deku Nuts straight down the hole and watched as the nut got lost in the darkness. After a few seconds of waiting, a bright flash was seen way down the chute, exposing something unusual inside. "Could.. could that be the treasure?" Senza asked.

"Quick, throw another." Gonzo ordered, curious to see what was really down there. Senza obliged, throwing another Deku Nut in the same way as before. This time, it took less time for the Deku Nut to explode in a bright flash and show what was inside the hole. This time, the object looked bigger and more imposing. "Another!" Gonzo prompted, and Senza threw another nut. This one flashed much sooner than the previous one, and made the object inside look quite close and large.

"Is that thing... growing?" Senza asked. "Or is it... moving up?"

Gonzo realized what Senza's words could mean, and his face became drawn with panic. "Quick! Everyone, get away from the hole!" Gonzo shouted, alarming everybody and making them jump out of the way. Just then, a large, tall and dark creature emerged from the hole. It extended its long, wing-like arms sideways, and immediately shot a mystical bolt from its hands that cracked the bottom of the floor part, allowing an acidic substance to seep through the cracks, and trapping the lot into the center hill. The creature then showcased its mystical abilities by producing a large, purple dome that enveloped its entire body. When it was all done, the creature finally opened its beady, crimson-red eyes and looked at its "guests" with the most devious of looks. The pirates were beginning to look scared, and nobody would blame them, as they were looking back at:

Master Magician from the Darkness

**Wizzrobe King**

Niko felt like he was about to faint, but he managed to stay on his feet long enough to try doing the first move. He took out his sabre and, through his agility, he did a couple of jumps and somersaults to reach the the tall monster's head. However, as soon as his sabre hit the dome, the blade began melting away, and when Niko managed to free himself from the dome's magnetism, he held in his hand what amounted to a glorified toothpick. "Eh... I guess this will be cut from my share." He said with a silly yet sad smile on his face.

The other guys tried all the ranged weapons they could: bombs, Deku Nuts, arrows... nothing was working to get to the Wizzrobe King. Link even tried a few bombchus and his ice and fire arrows, but they only disintegrated as soon as they came in contact with the dome. The large creature just stood there covering the hole in the middle and looking at the pirates curiously, as if he thought their efforts amusing. After the pirates looked tired from chucking stuff at the enemy, the Wizzrobe King extended its arms towards them, and a large surge of energy began forming in its hands.

"Everyone! Move away!" Gonzo shouted, prompting everyone to run somewhere else on the hill before the Wizzrobe King could complete its attack. Just as they moved, the creature launched a firewall that began burning on the floor and fortunately stood in place as it crackled away.

"I can't think of anything." Mako confessed, looking rather defeated. "Is there anything we could do that could destroy that dark dome?" He asked. Just then, the realization hit him rather quickly, and it seemed like it did to the other pirates as well, as they all began turning their heads in unison towards their captain.

"Me?" Tetra questioned their insistence on recreating the move she had just made not too long ago. "You want me to do another arrow like that?" Tetra began looking at the bow she had subconsciously pulled out apprehensively. "Do you think it'll work out?"

"Of course!" Nudge exclaimed. "You made mincemeat of those Like-Likes, and I'm sure that you'll at least put a dent on that thing's shield strong enough for us to act."

Considering the large amounts of encouragement she was receiving, the least Tetra could do is try it, she though. She armed the bow with an arrow and aimed it at the Wizzrobe King. "Flank me." Tetra ordered as she tried to recreate the circumstances of last time. "Let's see now..." She whispered to herself. "I was aiming at the creature, and I wanted to get it good... and then I heard something like a whisper telling me to think light. Think light..." Just then, the arrow began to power up. The power of light had been infused into the arrow, and its light began shining all over the room. When this happened, Tetra was looking amazed, though not nearly as afraid as she was before, so she managed to control her aim enough to point at the creature as she let go of the arrow.

The large, otherworldly shriek was almost like music to the ears of the pirates, who saw the large dome dissipate and the Wizzrobe King being cleaved by the Light Arrow, and took this opportunity to climb up and slash at whatever they could take from the dark monster. Before long, however, the Wizzrobe King managed to react and threw the pirates away with a large wave. It then extended its arms sideways and a large, sustained flame began to erupt from his hands, cutting the fighting field in half. While this happened, the dark dome was reformed and any ranged weaponry the pirates were planning to use became worthless once again.

"Oh, great. Now what." Nudge asked. It did not take long for the answer to arrive, as the Wizzrobe King began spinning in place, its flames still shooting out from its hands, and forcing the pirates to run in circles to avoid the incoming flames.

"You know, Nudge..." Niko began, trying to speak in between breaths as they ran. "You should really learn when to shut up, you know."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the flames, Link and Tetra were running as well, and Tetra was having a particularly tough time arming the bow with the arrow, not to mention trying to aim it. "Just how am I supposed to concentrate while we're running?" She told her partner. "If only I had just enough time to stand still to... WHOA!" Suddenly, Link grabbed hold of Tetra and lifted her above his head, all while running from the flames. "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, LINK! STOP! LET ME DOWN, YOU..." she then tilted her head backwards, and managed to catch a glimpse of the flames roaring right toward them. "AAAAAH! DON'T YOU DARE TO STOP RUNNING, LINK! I WON'T FORGIVE YOU IF I GET SINGED BY THOSE FLAMES!" She then decided to make the best of it and tried to aim at the Wizzrobe King. Her aim was spotty at best, but at least it was better than trying to aim while running. She then managed to power up another arrow with the power of light, and quickly shot it at the monster. While the arrow missed the Wizzrobe, the dome was shattered by and it became distracted enough to stop the flame walls. This gave Link and the pirates enough time to draw their blades and go at the Wizzrobe with reckless abandon.

Suddenly, the Wizzrobe managed to throw the pirates away with another wave. This time however, the Wizzrobe King did not look good at all, but rather, it looked quite defeated. However, it still managed to form another dark dome, and then it raised one arm and shot a bolt to the ceiling, making a hole in it that began to spur more acid into the room. The situation had suddenly changed, and the lot had a very limited time to defeat their enemy and somehow find a way to escape. "Miss Tetra, quick! Fire another arrow to it!" Gonzo said to his captain with the utmost urgency. Tetra tried to concentrate, but the pressure of the time constrain, magnified by the sound of the rushing acid entering the room made her shake her hands uncontrollably. Even as she managed to power another arrow with light, she just couldn't aim properly. Then, from her left side, Link grabbed hold of her unsteady hand with his right gloved hand. This allowed the arrow's power to intensify and become completely enveloped in light. Link helped Tetra steady her aim, and she managed to throw the Light Arrow straight at the Wizzrobe King just in time.

Thus, with an excessive amount of writhing about, the Wizzrobe King succumbed to the power of the light arrows as it finally disintegrated and disappeared from everyone's view. This, however, did not stop the acid flow from trying to flood the room. "Oh, for the love of... Everybody, into the hole!" Tetra commanded, to which the pirates obeyed hesitantly but certainly. Everybody did their best to try and not freefall in, but eventually, the circular walls ended and they couldn't hang on to anything anymore, forcing them to fall down to the floor underneath. As soon as they landed, though, they ran or rolled out of the way to avoid getting stomped on by the upcoming pirate. Link was last from the group, and when he noticed that there was nowhere for the acid to go, he quickly tied a bomb to and arrow and blew up a hole in the ground. The hole was surprisingly deep, and when the acid began spilling over to the room where they were, it just flowed past them and into the hole below.

"Crisis averted." Nudge sighed in relief, wiping his brow clean.

"And of course, there's our reward for a tough day of work." Senza pointed out, walking over to a well-disguised chest in a corner of the room. He and the rest of the pirates suddenly perked up and ran over to the chest, eager to see what kind of goodies there were.

"Hey... HEY!" Tetra shouted to call her subordinates' attention. "You know the rules. We split the whole thing even, so don't you dare take anything before the split or you get nothing. Now..." She began walking over to the chest alongside Link. "That which I am most interested in. Where are the pages we're looking for?"

"Let me see." Gonzo said as he began looking into the treasure-filled chest. They were not immediately apparent, but in a corner of the chest were a couple of pages hastily crumpled in. "My, somebody doesn't know how to take care of these... Here, Miss Tetra. I think these are it."

Tetra inspected the pages, and though they looked somewhat mistreated, they were definitely of the same design as the rest of the missing pages. "Well, you did good for a chart man, Link. Now let's see... one, two, three... three?" Tetra was strangely surprised by the count of pages. She counted them again, but there was no mistaking: she had only three of the four final pages in her possession. "Wait... there should be four. This is most likely the last place, so the final four should be here. There must be some mistake. Go on, check again."

The pirates began to resort to throwing some of the treasure on the floor to try and check every nook and cranny of the chest and see if there could be something they missed out the first time through. However, no matter how much they tried, there were no more pages inside the chest. "Sorry, captain. There's only treasure in here." Niko broke the news.

"But... but..." Tetra tried to form her thoughts coherently as she tried to grasp the reality of it all as well. "This was supposed to be it. This was supposed to be the end. Now... oh, man, don't tell me we're gonna have to do another one of these dungeon things to grab the last measly page from the book." She sighed deeply as she wiped her face with her hand. "Seriously, guys, I'm done with this place. Let's go back to the ship."

* * *

That night, The pirate ship had set sail for the deep seas, and the pirates were starting to return to the cabins for a good night sleep. After inspecting that everything was in place, and after entrusting Mako with the night guard, Tetra left the upper deck and retreated to her room. She sat right in front of her mirror, and for a few solid seconds, she stared at the odd ponytail she had hastily propped up after that event inside the latest dungeon. In truth, the ponytail made her look quite different... more feminine than she's looked recently, anyway. Still, it was quitting time, and no matter how much she stared at her new look, she had to untie it and prepare herself for sleep.

"You know, the bun thing Venus said wasn't to be taken literally."

"AAAAAAH!" Tetra screamed when the sudden voice spoke to her. She turned around quickly only to see that Din, Nayru and Farore had instantly teleported themselves into her room. "Oh, it's you. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Nayru said in her usual cheerful voice. "If you happened to die because of us, we'll just give you life again, just like that."

"Wow, that's comforting." Tetra spat out, deadpan. "So, what do I owe the honor of yet another late-night visit from you?"

"Yes, well, we do have a rather bad habit of visiting at night. You'll have to excuse us there." Din confessed. She walked in front of the other two Goddesses and addressed Tetra with a bit more authority now. "Now, princess, listen well to our words, the words of the great Goddesses, creators of the land of Hyrule and protectors of the Law of Life. You have done well in your trials, and you have matured since the last time we addressed you. Now, it is time."

"Time?" Tetra asked, though she knew full well what she meant with that statement. "You mean, time to finish this? To claim Waarheid... er... Hyrule?"

"Yes. That is what we mean." Din continued. "You have managed to finalize everything that we had expected from you, and I can see success in the rest of your journey. You must now guide your followers and lead them through to the end."

"Wait, wait... wait a minute." Tetra stopped Din from continuing her speech. "But I'm not ready. I... I don't even have the last page of the Hyrulian Book. I don't know if I overlooked it somewhere, but I just don't have it."

"What, that?" Nayru spoke casually. "Do not worry for that. You will find that page soon enough if that is your wish. And believe me, even if you couldn't, you ARE ready."

"Really?" Tetra asked.

"Definitely!" Farore spoke out, rather excited at that, and approached Tetra rather closely. "When you managed to unleash all your powers and show your true colors back in that ship, we were so proud of you! Well, I was really proud of you, anyway. Nayru was relieved you pulled it off and Din had that 'about time' look on her face. And today, you overcame the last of your fears and accepted yourself completely. Your heritage, your abilities, your future... everything. You have truly come to grips with the true you." She then wrapped a hand around Tetra's neck and waved the other around, starry-gazed. "Oh, I can see it now. Hyrule, big and bustling, and you on the throne, ruling over the land with a fair and just rule. Princess Zelda Tetrilynn Hyrule, the first ruler of the reborn kingdom of Hyrule. You'll go down in history, girl."

"Farore, would you be so kind as to not overbear her? She has enough on her plate already." Nayru reprimanded the green Goddess.

"Sorry." Farore excused herself and stepped back from Tetra, but not without giving her a quick thumbs up and a wink.

"So... I should begin the final strike soon, right?" Tetra asked them.

"We'd prefer if you didn't resort to violence against the people currently inhabiting the land." Din explained. "If you can, use diplomacy, use your abilities... anything to avoid meaningless bloodshed. If worse comes to worst, however, we'll understand."

"All right." Tetra said, nodding in understanding. "We shall resupply and then we'll go inside the land once more. It shouldn't take more than a week to prepare..."

"Tomorrow." Din proclaimed.

"Tomorrow?" Tetra questioned. "Why?"

"We cannot afford to delay this anymore." Nayru explained. "You must manage with whatever there is on your ship, and start everything tomorrow. You will know why we cannot delay when you arrive."

"But... there's no way..." Tetra tried to think ways of circumventing what they expected from her, but she could not think of any solid things. "Do you really think I can do it, just like that?"

"We do." Farore said. "Do you?" At this, Tetra began to think introspectively, trying to find out if she could be ready to tackle the big challenge in such short notice. "Look, we want you to succeed, but that is only going to happen if you believe that you can do it. Believe, princess, and we can guarantee you that Hyrule shall be given to you."

"I just gotta believe." Tetra said, trying to set herself in the proper mood to rise to the occasion. "Tomorrow, then. I'm gonna have to wake everybody up to tell them, but I guess we can manage."

"That's the spirit." Din encouraged Tetra. "I want to see you there tomorrow morning, because I want to see you transform this place into a beautiful realm."

"We'll be watching over you." Nayru said." Remember, if you believe, you will not fail."

"I'll be rooting for you." Farore said. "So long as you believe you will never truly be alone."

"And by the way..." Din wondered, looking around like something was missing. "Where is that boy we assigned to be your companion? Link?"

"Link? He's probably sleeping." Tetra said.

"Be sure to tell him these things we have told you." Din continued. "He must not be excluded from this no matter what. His companionship to you may mean the difference between success and failure. Do not leave his side, and do not let him leave yours."

Tetra nodded. "He'll be the first to know."

"Good." Nayru said, feeling satisfied. "We have to leave now, but we'll be watching over you. I know you won't disappoint us."

"Farewell, princess." Din finished.

"Remember, you will never be truly alone." Farore finished as well.

And with those words, the three Goddesses turned a golden hue and began floating about in the room. Then, they began spinning rapidly until they disappeared in midair, leaving Tetra alone once more in her room.

"Tomorrow..." Tetra repeated to herself. She could barely believe it, but what started as a simple spelunking mission at a random cave has turned out as this grand, incredible, back-breaking, and oftentimes stressing and heart-wrenching adventure. Moreover, she could not believe she was at the cusp of the final act, that as soon as the sun was to appear the following morning, things were to be put into motion to claim the land that was selected by the Goddesses themselves as the new Hyrule. As soon as tomorrow, she was to say goodbye to all that she had known for fifteen long years. She was to trade her ship and the vast seas for a castle and a throne. She was to exchange the high-adrenaline battles and treasure hunts for diplomatic discussions and jewelry at her fingertips. Her sabre was going to be replaced for a ceremonial sword for knighting. Her ragtag yet comfortable clothes were leaving in favor of frou-frou dresses and who-knows how many layers are supposed to go underneath it. Her room, which has gone through many transformations itself from the time her mother was captain of the ship, quaint but homely and surprisingly well kept, would be but a memory, displaced by what will most likely be a large room in a tower, complete with a bed too big for her and a view of everything around her.

Before doing what was to be done, she took one final, silent walk around all parts of the small ship she had called home ever since she had memory.

The cargo hold... she remembered playing hide and seek with the others when she was a child, and nobody could find her because she was always hiding inside one of the crates. When she became captain, she had way too much fun thrusting new swabbies through the ship's famous test, which she made more and more rigorous for them. She remembered how, after months of nearly endless trying, Niko finally managed to finish her jumping trial, shocking even the hardiest of them.

The mess hall... If there was a place that could best show how this band of pirates was more like a family than anything else, this was it. So many birthday parties were celebrated in there. Gonzo's last party, in particular, was so over the top that they almost ran out of supplies on that day alone. Everyone made a point to eat in the mess hall and talk to others cheerfully, and everybody lent a hand on kitchen duty, which sometimes meant that food wasn't always the best quality, but it was always from the heart.

The cabins... Ever since she's been captain, she hasn't been to the cabins much. She could see how messy the place had become, partially because seven men were all living in the same large room. Still, when she was younger, she always went in and bothered the other guys, or planned surprises for the others, including her mother and Pami. This had become a sanctuary for her crewmen, just like her own room was untouchable by them, and she was more than happy to let them be when they were in there, just as they were now, calmly sleeping after a long day. She knew she had to wake them, but for now, she let them sleep.

The cannons... She was never adept at loading a cannon, but she still remembered the first time she had managed to fire one. It was loud, and the cannon moved back a lot, and it certainly made everybody run amok to find out what had happened. These days, the cannons weren't being used much, but she still made it a point to make sure they work properly and that they have enough ammo available.

The upper deck... There were just too many memories above deck to even reminisce through them all. The discoveries that were made at the Crow's Nest, the guys playing their rough games on the middle ground, she could even visualize Gonzo or Senza working at the bridge, navigating the ship like the experts they were. She knew she had made a wise choice in keeping them as crew members when she became captain. And the catapult, she remembered fondly. Sure, there was the time they launched Link right into a wall a long time ago on the northwestern seas of the Great Sea, but she had experienced that before, when she launched herself with it to try a super dive to the water. She fell back-first to the water. Tetra winced and chuckled at the same time as she remembered that event.

Her room... She had always been in this room, ever since she was born. Her mother had adapted the room to make space for two beds, and being here almost guaranteed Tetra that she would be able to see her mother every day. Even when she looked tired, Tetra's mother would sit by her, caress her head and listen to whatever stories she could come up with, or inversely, she would tell Tetra of all that had happened on the day. At one moment, Tetra thought if there was some sort of weird spell that turned her mother strict and straight to the point during the day, but absolutely caring and lovable during the night. Despite her apparent attitude during the day, however, she grew to understand her mother and her motives, and she loved her for it.

Tetra took a moment to look at her mother's portrait in her room. There she was, as steely-eyed as she normally was during the day. The portrait alone evoked the feeling of authority, something Madam Jacques was well known for. Underneath it, however, Tetra was capable of discerning her mother's more tender, warmer, more beautiful aspects. It was almost as if through that painting, Tetra's mother was watching over her, wanting to touch her, to have her in her arms once more, and if she could speak, she would tell her so many things. Her mother definitely knew basically everything she knows now of her heritage, and perhaps in due time, Jacques was planning to pass that knowledge along to her.

Tetra could not handle it anymore. The nostalgia trip was overwhelming. The memories flooded her mind. The good times and the bad, and everything that she lived inside the ship. This had been her home for fifteen years, and it certainly meant more to her than whatever you could sell such a small ship for. Eventually, she fell to her knees, and covering her face with her eyes, she couldn't help but silently cry.

Tetra was not afraid. Do not make the mistake of assuming that for a second. She was not afraid of leaving her past behind. She wasn't afraid of starting anew, to forgo her current name and her current life to live the life most girls would be infinitely envious to have, for she knew what kind of future there was right in front of her. However, she couldn't help but feel sad about it. She couldn't help giving that which she knew all her life one final, heartfelt farewell.

**To Be Continued**

A/N: If you'd like, go and read the music that inspired ZOoL on my profile. Maybe they'll help you set the mood.


	16. The Overlord of the Land

REVIEW ANSWERIN' time wants to wish ZOoL a happy birthday. REVIEW ANSWERIN' time is late by two days. REVIEW ANSWERIN' time is bad with dates and time:

u00dfrady: Whoa whoa WHOA! Gimme a second here. Big review is big. And you bring up some valid points as well, so I'll take my time to answer them. This also means you get the dubious honor of earning the biggest RAT comment I've written yet. First, my quality. The story is already fleshed out in my mind (BTW, I don't think it'll reach 30. At least not THIS one.), and I have certain spots I want to reach. Examples: The Flambee battle, the Moldorm battle, the first ship fight, much of chapter 8, Chapter 9 finale, this chapter... you get the idea. I tried my best to have AT LEAST one interesting thing to look forward in each chapter, but it gets TOUGH to do so, and if I don't get a truly interesting idea, I trudge through with the best I can come up with. Chapter 12 is a glaring example. I know it's not the best policy, but I have a real-life time limit if I want to finish ZOoL. Also, I kinda got tired of making dungeons (not my forte), which is why chapter 15's dungeon was just a series of similar rooms with a continuous dangerous puzzle. I tried to make the best of it as well. (ALSO, please note that the action serves the story. The whole point of the darkness dungeon and the Light arrow thing was about Tetra overcoming her fears.) Now, your ideas. Let me point out that the Tower of Spirits is ALREADY THERE (see chapter 11), and what comes with it (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) as well. Or did you not notice the bridge to nowhere in the island in Chapter 15? Replay Spirit Tracks and tell me which island may look like a mountain if looked one way but it's hollow in the right way (read, the only way you enter it). Does this mean that Malladus is already written off? I say "dude, don't get ahead of yourself". I appreciate your ideas, but at this point, there are few things that I'm toying with in the story. All I need is the time and patience to bring it all together quite nicely. And I must say, thank you for making this wonderful comment, because I love seeing where can I improve. (BTW: Yes, the redeads were blue in TWW. You can look it up in a decent Zelda fansite that features the enemies.)

ACEAMC: You're getting ahead of yourself for asking about that in chapter 7. Keep reading, and when you read this, you'll already know the answer. Also, thank you for reminding me about them...

Now, enjoy the largest chapter ever. They ain't getting any larger, kid, just so you know.

_The Legend of Zelda_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 16:

The Overlord of the Land

The sky was perfect, with only the occasional cloud floating above, and turning from a dark, nearly black hue to the more refreshing light-blue it's best known for. The sun was starting to appear from the horizon, its golden rays stretching into the infinite and giving light to nearly everything that fell right under it. The seas were amazingly calm, with nary a wave crashing into the rocks, and the tide making its slow but steady fluctuation downwards. The birds flew about, carried by the gentle breeze of the wind, carrying food for their young, or seeking a new place to live. In short, the morning was bright, it was calm, it was perfect. One would easily declare oneself incredibly lucky to be capable of witnessing such a splendorous harmony of nature in the early hours.

Of course, Nudge did not think it so.

"Unbelievable." Nudge declared while rubbing his eyes for the fiftieth time, trying to defeat whatever remaining tiredness he was harboring. "Look at me, awake and fully dressed in the wee hours of the morning. And with fresh, clean clothes to boot."

"Well, it's not unlike this job to be prepared to do anything at any hours." Mako explained as he carried stuff over to the top deck. "It's what you signed up for, so what are you complaining, oh loudmouthed one?"

"Well, for starters, these were my last pair of clean clothes." Nudge whined, pointing out how his bright-red shirt didn't have even the slightest speck of grime stuck to it. "Second, I fully expected to work at all hours... except I thought that usually meant doing stuff late at night, which I love to do, by the way. Third, we haven't even had breakfast yet. We're running around, working our butts off to get ready with no chance to recoup what we've used up, and not even a chance to claim our share of yesterday's treasure, and don't you dare tell me I'm being whiny because we can't even get a bite for..."

"BREAKFAST!" Niko announced as he passed around the ship's corridors. "BREAKFAST DELIVERY! Takeout special, full of protein for energy! Here's one for you, Mako, and one for you, Nudge. BREAKFAST!" Niko then walked away to the upper deck, leaving the bickering duo with a breakfast wrap in their hands.

"Now can I say you're being whiny?" Mako asked mischeviously.

"Oh, shut up!" Nudge retorted and took a hearty bite of the wrap before continuing with his work.

* * *

"Okay." Senza said as he wiped his hands clean, basking on a job well done. "The longboat is ready for deployment. Now what else do we need?" He began looking around for any sort of objects that were out of place on the top deck. Strangely, a couple of charts were left abandoned right in the middle of the deck, and nobody was doing any effort in collecting them, so he walked over to pick them up. "Now I wonder who was the irresponsible one who let these things out here."

"Senza." Gonzo called out his fellow crew mate as he approached him. "How are things up here? Is the longboat ready and secured?"

"Ready and secured as she will ever be, Gonzo." Senza answered, feeling very confident with himself.

"And these charts?" Gonzo wondered, seeing the charts in Senza's hands.

"Oh, these? I found them laying on the ground and I don't know who was the..."

"Weren't those the charts I told you to stow away on the cargo hold, since they were useless to us now?" Gonzo interrupted Senza, without really comprehending what he wanted to say.

Senza was suddenly quieted. He had completely forgotten that he was given this rather simple objective. It was so simple, apparently, that he had not remembered it and he did not do it when he was supposed to. "Eh... I'll get to it, Gonzo." He simply said, and he disappeared from view into the lower decks.

"BREAKFAST!"

"Not now, Niko!"

"What's with him...?" Zuko asked Gonzo.

"He's getting nervous, I'll bet." Gonzo supposed. "I wouldn't blame him. Considering that Miss Tetra had to wake us in the middle of the night and tell us what was gonna happen today, it's surprising nobody else is like him. Oh, thanks, Niko." He finished as he got one of the wraps Niko was serving across the ship.

"So... I know we're in for one heck of a battle, but don't you think our Captain laid it on a bit too thick last night?" Niko wondered, expecting to hear something that validated him.

"No..." Zuko explained plainly. "Miss Tetra spoke the truth... You don't sugarcoat the truth... no matter how harsh it may be."

"That's kinda harsh right there, Zuko." Niko stated as he tasted his own confection.

"Well, I never really won any awards for charisma." Zuko commented. "Anyway... We cannot be delusional... and think this will be over easy... I can feel this things, and I feel there will be a fight."

"Yeah, yeah, you say that, but I know you better than that, Zuko." Gonzo retorted. "You just wanna find the first excuse to go all out. Am I wrong?"

Zuko quieted down immediately. He took a few quick glances around, checking if there was anything that could save him, but at the end, he merely resorted to grabbing one of Niko's wraps and taking one huge bite. "Tfhis iff afful, Nifo..."

* * *

Link sat alone on top of the hammock that has served as his bed for the last two years. All of his items and weapons laid sprawled in front of him, as if there were a showcase or an exposition of his weaponry. He tried to think which items he would need the most in the upcoming challenge, considering he had a limited space to store them. His sword and shield were a dead giveaway, and his bow and grappling hook have been so useful in the past that he was already counting them in. For some reason, he gravitated towards his Deku Leaf and he considered its versatility, though the item did not do any sort of direct damage. He also weighted both his Skull Hammer and his Fairy Hammer, with the former being stronger but more unwieldy, and the latter, while it was definitely easier to use, simply did not hit as much. As much as he looked at his instruments, he couldn't figure out a workable combination for this one. This was their final stand, and he needed to be as useful as he could if they were to be successful.

Eventually, he decided on his weapons and stored the rest neatly in his chest, ready for the next chance he would need them. Afterwards, he exited the cabins and headed for Tetra's room to see how she was doing.

"BREAKFAST!" Niko shouted. Link could not believe the little guy's energy. He must have been shouting that non-stop for a good 10 minutes now, and he still did not have a hint of hoarseness in his voice. If nothing else, this was something worth admiring.

"Hey, Link. Here's your share." Niko said as he took one wrap and put it in Link's hands. He then thought a moment, and eventually gave Link another wrap. "By the way, can you do me a favor and give this one to the Captain as well? She's kinda unresponsive at the moment." Niko then made to leave to the mess hall with his already empty plate, but he decided to turn back to Link, as there was something that he simply needed to ask him. "Link, you're an honest guy. Perhaps the most honest from all of us. I wanna ask you a simple question, ok? This, all this that's happening now, what do you make of it?" Link stopped mid-bite while he tried to understand what Niko meant. "Well, you see, everyone's getting nervous, and they're like this may be it, but I'm not sure of that. Now, you're close to the Captain, right? So can you tell me if we're... well..." Niko stuttered, unsure of how to phrase his words. "I'll be blunt. Do you think this is the end?"

Link thought profoundly about Niko's words and his worries. In all honesty, he wondered the same thing himself. There was something he felt that he could not pinpoint exactly in the air today. A sense of foreboding, that eerie calm that thickens around before the storm blows over. Link has been in enough situations to understand this uneasy feeling, and probably the other pirates as well. In the end, Link shook his head and shrugged his shoulders with an almost-unreadable lost look.

"You don't know, either?" Niko questioned upon Link's answer. He sighed dejectedly, and Link could do little more than simply try and comfort the guy. Niko, however, sprung up almost immediately and, with a radiant energy and a humongous smile that looked like it could upstage Link's happy-go-lucky demeanor, puffed his chest and declared triumphantly. "Then, don't you worry, Link. No matter whatever comes, I will not let you down!" With those words, he sprinted at top speed towards the mess hall. "JUST WATCH ME! I WILL BE INCREDIBLE!"

Link couldn't help but snicker at Niko's sudden burst of energy. Still, that undying energy and loyalty the short, buck-toothed pirate possessed was definitely something worth admiring. If nothing else, that had to be the reason he became a pirate in this ship. However, Link's mind had wondered too far, and he remembered where he was about to go.

As Link approached Tetra's room, he sneaked an innocent peek inside, just to see if she was ready. To his surprise, he noticed a person dressed in a long blue coat you normally see on high-rank sailors and wearing a captain's hat inside the room. The person had their back turned to Link, and was looking at a long object sitting in Tetra's table, seemingly curious about it. Link entered Tetra's room cautiously and drew out an arrow (his sword would have been too loud) and approached the person very carefully. He tried to surprise the person, but Link's courtesy got the better of him and tapped the person's shoulder first and waited to see the face behind before deciding to attack. The person turned, and Link raised the arrow up, and...

"LINK!" Tetra yelled, indignant after seeing her partner had sneaked into her room and was brandishing an arrow to her. "What's the meaning of this?"

Link wasted no time to hide his arrow behind his back and bashfully give Tetra a toothy grin and a weak laugh. He then looked at Tetra, gussied up in flashy captain clothes quite unlike what she usually likes to wear, and began pointing all over it, from the stylish three-pronged hat, the long blue coat, the white pants with just a hint of pink on their sides, all the way to the strong leather boots.

"What? This?" Tetra quibbled as if it were nothing. "Yeah, It may be strange seeing me with these. But I though, since this is pretty much my last stint as a pirate, I might as well just end this with a bang. So, what do you think?" She then extended her arms to fully showcase her new attire. Link immediately noticed how her arms looked comically small inside the long sleeves, a fact he could not pass up to point and laugh. "Hey, what are you laughing at?" Tetra retorted while flailing her arms about. This made Link laugh even harder, forcing him to cover his face to try and calm down. "Ha, ha. Very funny." Tetra spat sarcastically while she rolled up her sleeves.

To change the subject, Link went ahead to inspect what Tetra was checking so intently not too long ago. It was a long, black sheath with a highly polished blade with carvings all around on its side. "What? Oh, yeah." Tetra said as she remembered what she was doing before Link entered. "I'm sure you've seen that blade before. It's my mother's cutlass. I guess... since I'm basically the only heir, that it belongs to me now, but to me, it shall always be my mother's memento. On one hand there's that... on the other, this blade would be better than my short sabre." Tetra then took the cutlass on her hands and stared at it, almost longingly so. "What would you do, Link? I wouldn't want this sword to break, but at the same time, I feel I should take it. What would you... do?"

Then, Link raised his hand and grabbed Tetra's arm. He then guided the arm towards the blade's hilt and pressed it inward to make sure Tetra had a firm grip on it. When Tetra took her eyes off her hand and guided them at Link, the green-garbed lad nodded at her in the most secure manner he's ever done. Tetra, now with her mother's cutlass firmly in her grip, gave Link the same expression before turning her gaze back to the blade. "Don't worry, mother. I will make you proud." She said while sneaking a glance at her mother's portrait in the wall.

* * *

"Is everything ready, Gonzo?" Tetra asked as she joined the rest in the top deck, with Link not too far behind her.

"Well..." Gonzo hesitated to answer the question. This alarmed Tetra and walked over to where the first mate was to try and receive some answers.

"What? What's missing?" Tetra asked. "You know what I told you last night. We do this now or never, so we have to make do with what we have."

"No... it's not that. We actually have just enough to cover the lot of us." Gonzo reassured his captain. "It's just... well... look for yourself, Miss Tetra." He then cautiously pointed towards the bow of the ship, to which Tetra followed. What Tetra saw terrified her.

It was Waarheid. Or rather, what was left of Waarheid. The full length of what they could see of the town was in shambles and ruins. There were whole buildings ripped clean in half, debris was scattered everywhere, smoke was pouring from dozens of places, and whole squares were looking leveled. The whole place resembled a war zone. Tetra joined the ranks of Niko, Mako, Senza, Nudge and Zuko, looking mouth-agape at the incredible levels of destruction that the city had suffered is such a short time.

"So this is what she meant." She whispered. "We can't wait anymore."

"What kind of monster would do this?" Senza asked, though not really expecting an answer. "I mean, There's not even a pirate crew large enough to cause such mayhem and destruction to a town so large. This work... this isn't natural."

"Of course it isn't." Tetra said. "There's one person who could so this in such a messy, yet very clean way. Only one person would be powerful enough to do this from the inside. It's the only way this reached such proportions."

"Dante." Niko responded his own unsaid question. "But why? If I remember right, his people were happy and he liked it that way. Why would he just go and make them miserable on a whim."

"I... don't know." Mako interjected. "I'd say this is his way of sending a message to us. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Gentlemen." Tetra spoke out in a loud and authoritative voice she often reserved for big speeches and the like. She climbed to the ship's bowsprit and, hanging from the line, she addressed them directly. "This is the extent of our enemy's determined and desperate tactics to destroy our courage and send us packing. They have sunk to a new low, forgoing the safety of their own people and properties merely as a scare tactic. They may think they have this won, that they have run us out of town, but we will prove them wrong! We will enter Waarheid and take their filthy, unworthy hands off the city's wheel! We will march right up there and give Dante a piece of our mind, and if he does not like that, we will give him a piece of our lead and our blades! We are harbingers of the truth, and we will do anything and everything in our power to take down the tyrants who love lying to their people and we will restore everything to their rightful order! No more deception, no more hiding, no more disproportionate punishment! For I assure you all that we have been chosen. Yes, we, a band of honorable sailors who took into the pirating mantle and sailed the seas as far and wide as the wind would guide us. We are the ones to bring about a new revolution, for I know the Goddesses are looking upon us with bated breath, and they will make sure that if we go on land and fight our fight bravely, we shall emerge victorious! So prepare yourselves, gentlemen. Load your guns and sharpen your blades, and prepare to be written into the history books. Today... WE MAKE HISTORY!"

For a band of eight pirates, the uproar and cheering they brought out upon hearing Tetra's speech could bring a normal riotous crowd down in shame. He group hooted and hollered like there was no tomorrow, his screaming and yelling raising to the skies and even scaring off faraway birds. "Mister Gonzo, bring us closer to shore! Zuko, up the Crow's Nest, on the double! Niko, ready the Chomps! The rest of you, on your stations! And Link!" Link suddenly stopped from running to his post to see what did Tetra want. Tetra, in a dramatically defiant look, pulled out her cutlass and pointed right at her partner. "I shall trust your sword and your shield!" She declared. Link nodded, delivering the same look back at his captain, and ran to his post at the ship.

* * *

"Sir!"

"Yes, lieutenant?"

"The pirate ship... it's here again. The pirates are here once more."

"..."

"They docked on the old harbor. Sources say they looked armed and dangerous."

"..."

"They look like they're heading this way."

"..."

"Sir? Should we just stop them?"

"... No."

"No?"

"You heard me, lieutenant. Do not waste your resources in stopping them. I want to see what the people would do in such a situation."

* * *

The band of pirates walked along what was once Waarheid harbor in a close huddled group. Compared to what they could see further ahead, all the buildings within the harbor area were totally leveled, with only a couple of lone walls still standing. A mixture of destroyed bricks, wooden panels, dirt and other debris formed the shaky and unsafe ground the group had to walk on. Off in a corner, Niko and Senza even spied a certain familiar tall and lanky man, bald on top but sporting a hearty beard, winding a portable vibraphone in a low, depressing manner, which gave the scene an extra creepy vibe.

"So much destruction." Mako uttered with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Dante has a lot to answer for, that's for sure." Tetra said. "The sooner we find him, the better. Let's keep moving. I'm sure he's right in the middle of it... WHAGH!"

Suddenly and inadvertently, an anonymous shot was fired, grazing Tetra's cheek ever so slightly. The searing pain made her clasp her face tightly and drop to the floor while the other pirates were quick to react and huddle around their captain and draw their guns (in Link's case, his bow) "Who's out there? Show yourself!" Gonzo shouted at the crumbled debris in the distance. It was tough to make out, but the pirates could see several shadowed people running low behind the destruction, as if trying to avoid being discovered. Seeing this, several pirates aimed their guns at the general area where the people were to be. "Don't waste your ammo." Gonzo ordered. "We're not sure who they are, and we sure don't have bullets to spare."

Link took down his bow just enough to go check on Tetra. Her right hand covering her wound was slowly overflowing with blood while she attempted to take out a red cloth from a pocket in her coat to cover herself with it. "I'll be fine. Don't break the cover." Tetra admonished her partner. Link belayed the order and rummaged through his bag until he pulled out a red potion, and while giving it to her, he pointed out with his fingers to only drink a small sip of it. "All right, but you better get back up." Tetra finished, taking the bottle out of Link's hand.

Link stood back up quickly and joined his comrades in the line, who were in point for any suspicious movements in the horizon. They looked left, to where there were two solitary walls, then to the right, where only one wall stood, then they turned again, where the three solitary walls wobbled, and then to the right, where...

"Wait a minute." Nudge spoke out. He started to look around the group and noticed there was something eerily wrong with the scene. "See? There are more walls than before. This... this means..."

"We're surrounded." Zuko finished Nudge's thoughts. True to what they suspected, more and more walls were being raised around them, and the ones that were raised were getting closer to their position.

"I'd get the bombs out if I were you." Senza suggested to Gonzo. The first mate hesitated, since he didn't want to disobey Tetra's orders to not begin any violence, but the way things were looking, a preemptive strike looked like the one option to take if they were to survive.

Suddenly, the walls began to flash brightly. Upon the flashing, some of the walls began falling down, and many shadowy people fell to the floor unconscious. "Ok, who began throwing the Deku Nuts?" Gonzo asked the crew. Everybody just denied having used any sort of attack. "Well then, who would...?"

"Hey, guys!"

Suddenly, all of the pirates' guns were drawn to the man that had surprised them. When they got a good look, it turned out to be nobody else but Miyahon, who looked completely terrified of having so many guns pointed at his head and hair. "Guys, calm down, calm down. I'm not gonna harm you."

"What are you doing, man?" Gonzo asked exasperated while motioning his men to lower their guns.

"The question is what are _you_ doing here?" Miyahon questioned. "Don't you guys know there's a bounty for your head?"

"You know, Miyahon..." Nudge stepped forward and petted the guy's shoulder. "This may come as a shock to you, but us? We're pirates. There's always a bounty on our heads."

"No, man, that's not it." Miyahon insisted and took out a piece of paper from his pants and shoved it to Nudge's face. When they got a good look, the guys noticed the paper was more than just a bounty request. It was a full-blown smear campaign. "Read!"

ATTENTION, CITIZENS OF WAARHEID.

MASSIVE DESTRUCTION ALL OVER WAARHEID.

A STRING OF DESTRUCTION HAS BEGUN WITHIN THE WALLS OF THE LAND OF

WAARHEID. BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN BURNED, MONUMENTS HAVE BEEN BLOWN

UP, AND MANY LIVES HAVE BEEN PUT TO JEOPARDY. THE WAARHEID ARMY HAS

FOUND A LEAD, AND IS ASKING THE GENERAL POPULACE TO HELP IN ANY WAY

THEY CAN. A BAND OF FILTHY PIRATES, LED BY THE RUTHLESS CAPTAIN TETRA

HAVE BEEN USING UNDETERMINED, SNEAKY WAYS TO ENTER THE CITY AND

SPREAD CHAOS AND PANIC IN HOPES OF PROVOKING A STATE OF ANARCHY.

FURTHERMORE, THESE PIRATES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR RELEASING DANGEROUS

PRISONERS TO THE STREETS, TURNING THE STREETS OF WAARHEID UNSAFE AND

FORCING THE ARMY TO SCRAMBLE ALL THEIR TROOPS. FOR THE GOOD OFWAARHEID,

THESE PIRATES MUST BE STOPPED! IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING THAT CAN LEAD US

INTO FINDING AND INCARCERATING THE MENACE THAT IS DESTROYING THE

BALANCE IN OUR PEACEFUL CITY, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL WAARHEID SOLDIER IMMEDIATELY.

FOR YOUR SAFETY, AND BY DECREE OF THE GREAT EMPEROR DANTE, THE WAARHEID

ARMY HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED TO ENTER ANY HOME OR BUILDING WITH NO PRIOR

WARNING TO THOROUGHLY SEARCH AND IMPRISON ANYBODY SUSPECTED OF

HARBORING THESE CRIMINALS. AGAIN, WE ASK YOU TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND

TURN THESE NEFARIOUS PEOPLE IN.

(addendum)

A BOUNTY HAS BEEN RELEASED FOR THE CAPTURE OF **CAPTAIN TETRA**, ITS PIRATES

AND ALL FUGITIVES. WE ARE OFFERING 100,000 RUPEES FOR THE CAPTURE OF

**CAPTAIN TETRA**. WE WANT HER ALIVE SO SHE CAN PAY FOR HER CRIMES. REMEMBER,

WHENEVER YOU LOOK AT THE DESTRUCTION ALL OVER WAARHEID, YOU ONLY HAVE

ONE PERSON TO THANK FOR IT. THAT PERSON IS **CAPTAIN TETRA**.

Further down the paper were detailed drawings of Tetra, the pirates, Link, Miyahon and several other people, all with a bounty price and either the words 'WANTED ALIVE' or 'ALIVE OR DEAD' written underneath each face. (Link was labeled 'ALIVE OR DEAD', making him wince.) Of them all, Tetra was definitely the biggest bounty by far.

"You see?" Miyahon talked fast, feeling increasingly on edge for being outside so much. "Loads of people blame you for the destruction, and you're not safe here. Come on, I know a place." And giving them no real time to think about it, Miyahon began running low-headed towards a large pile of debris. The group had no choice but to follow him, looking around to make sure there were no other ambush attacks out there. Once over the pile, Miyahon pushed a tree stump to reveal a hole and invited everyone to jump right in. They were hesitant, but the pirates began jumping, one by one, into the hole, and when everybody had already jumped in, Miyahon jumped in quickly and closed the hole from the inside.

* * *

"Not to put doubt in your judgment, Miyahon." Tetra talked as the group walked along the Waarheid underground. These were the so-called 'rat holes' the group first knew about while talking to the people in their first visit to the town. "But wouldn't Dante know about these corridors, these rat holes? I mean, we know about them, and we've even been down here before. We're not exactly safe here."

"Not to worry, madam." Miyahon reassured her. "These corridors are very twisty and turny. You probably haven't seen all of them yet. Besides, even if Dante sends his entire army down here to comb the area, they would never find our hiding spot." He finished with a wide grin that looked rather disconcerting.

Afterwards, they walked around for a while, taking some turns here and there, and eventually, they reached what looked to be a T-shaped intersection. "We're here." Miyahon announced. Everybody else looked from confused to aggravated, feeling cheated for walking around several corridors to encounter absolutely nothing. "Oh, it looks like nothing, and that's exactly what we want them to think. Now observe." Miyahon then faced the wall that met the one singular road and began tapping it in several seemingly random places and eventually the rock in the wall began raising until it stopped just two feet above ground. "I'm sorry to ask you this, but you'll have to roll to get in. Like this." Miyahon then laid flat on the floor next to the wall and rolled right into the hole in the stone wall. Seeing this, the group decided to try it and they all rolled into the hole in the same way.

"Welcome, guys, to the Revolution Headquarters!" Miyahon announced as he showed them the shabby but decent area they managed to maintain considering the lot of them were outlaws. Miyahon then started shoving some people closer to the pirates and started introducing them. "These are the people running the show right now. We're not a lot, but we've managed. Some of them escaped from the prison after that big explosion some time ago. Anyway, this is Dennis. He's been here since the beginning."

"How you doing?" Dennis addressed them.

"And this is Alexa. She's an artiste."

"Hey." Alexa waved at them while perched at the wall.

"And this is Phil, the ugly one."

"Hello!" Phil extended his arm to shake, to which Niko quickly responded.

"And this guy..." Miyahon pointed to a man with slicked-down black hair and a tattered long coat who simply refused to turn and face the pirates. "He tagged along with us, whining and begging to let him join our group, so we brought him here. He's been good for us, and always loyal to the end. So anyway, here's... eh... what was your name again?"

The man turned around for half a second, but when he saw the new people inside the room, he quickly turned back around. That briefest of moments, however, was enough for Link and Tetra to notice the man's face, his baggy, darkened eyes, his reddened nose, his slim mustache split down the middle, and his marked bone formation. "L... Linebeck?" Tetra wondered, tilting her head to try and get a better look at the man.

"Yeah, that's it." Miyahon remembered, snapping his fingers when it hit him. "Wait... you know this guy? You know these people, Linebeck?"

Linebeck, still refusing to look at them, mumbled some incoherent blathering while he waved his hand around dismissively. It almost looked like Linebeck did not want to speak to anybody right now. "What? Don't you recognize us?" Tetra asked, pulling Link closer to her and taking off her hat to make it easier for him. "It's us, Tetra and Link. These guys are my crew. Man, what happened to you? After Link insisted that he saw you in the horizon over two years ago, we haven't even heard anything from you."

Linebeck lowered his head in apparent shame and regret. It has been two years, and he never really even tried to contact them again, despite knowing where they were most of the time, and still they recognized him and showed true caring and worry for him. It was not often someone made him feel like such a slimeball, but with those simple words, Tetra had inadvertently achieved it.

Slowly, Linebeck turned around and, with a face fraught in conflicting and pained expression, faced what were once his cabin boy and that statue off in the corner he almost cracked. "Link!" Linebeck uttered before throwing himself right to the green boy's arms. He then tightened his embrace to the point that Link was starting to turn different shades of purple. "I'm so sorry it took this long. I always knew about you guys, but I'm a coward who doesn't even dare face the music. I stayed away, looking from afar, until I heard that you were in the mother of all adventures, and this mean old guy Dante was making your lives horrible, so I decided to try and find you and help you."

"Linebeck?"

"That was months ago. I couldn't find you, so I tried to get a talk to that Dante fellow."

"Linebeck..."

"And he had me locked up for treason! The nerve of that man! I'm not even a citizen on this place. My home will always be the sea. I hope my ship is still safe where I hid it..."

"Linebeck!" Tetra yelled. Linebeck stopped his bickering for a second to see what Tetra wanted. She then pointed to Link, who was still pressed between Linebeck's arms, and his face was turning ash-gray from lack of oxygen.

"Oh! Sorry there, mate." Linebeck apologized while letting go of Link.

"So let me get this straight." Mako began. "You've been in jail all this time, only because you wanted to defend your friends you did not see for two years?"

"The least I could do." Linebeck defended himself. "Besides, it was not for naught. I learned a few interesting things in prison from our friends of the Revolution, and I'm pretty sure you don't know these. For example, how old do you think is Waarheid?"

"Well, considering the finesse and extent of the structures and the expansion of the land... I'd say somewhere around 100 years at the least." Mako summarized.

"Nope." Linebeck simply answered.

"What? Older? 200 years?" Mako tried to answer reasonably.

"Noooo. Lower." Linebeck taunted, etching a rather childish mischievous grin on his face.

"Lower?" Mako asked, feeling confused. "Well... fifty? And that's quite a stretch, considering..."

"_Five_ years." Linebeck answered. "This town, all buildings in it, and its government... it was all set up five years ago. Pretty amazing, no?"

"Th... that's impossible!" Senza exclaimed. "The time and the manpower to put up such a ridiculously large city... You couldn't do it like that."

"'Tis true, however." Dennis interjected. "I was here before Waarheid came t' be. Then Dante came right outta nowhere and me and some others fled to the hills 'till it was safe t' return. Three days later, boom, Waarheid, as if it was there all along. The people who lived were either brainwashed of gone missin'. Try to ask 'em of anything that happened here ten years ago, for example, and they'll all draw one big blank. Alexa here was one of those, 'till she learned the truth on her own and joined the rebellion."

"Yeah." Alexa added. "Something just didn't click for me. I still can't remember clearly anything before a certain point in time, you know. So I did my research and found out that this place is about as legit as piracy."

"Hey!" Niko spouted off without thinking. "We actually run a legit piracy business here, and don't forget that."

"Anyway..." Tetra talked before Niko could talk more nonsense. "If this place was built just five years ago, then it was built for a very specific reason, right?"

"We think so." Phil concurred. "But the reason or reasons... that's what we don't know. It may be linked to what you're trying to accomplish, but we've never been able to discover any specifics. They're definitely up to something, of that we're sure."

"And that's where we come in, right?" Nudge asked. "We were planning to confront Dante anyways, so how's about we join up and you'll get what you want while we get what we want."

"Wait... you were planning to go up to Dante? Now?" Alexa wondered, feeling slightly alarmed. "'Now' now? Do you even have a plan or are you suicidal enough to just go and walk to where he is?"

"I wouldn't worry." Tetra reassured the revolutionists as she showed them the bounty poster. "They need me alive, so they cannot hurt me. So we'll go to Dante and talk to him about a few things. won't we, Mako?" Tetra winked to Mako at that last statement, making the smart one double check his bag and return with a satisfactory nod. "I think he'll find us rather... forceful."

"And if it don't work?" Dennis asked. "The army will go all out on you. They can separate you from your teammates and they'll exterminate 'em. Can you really say you're ready for that?"

"Now listen here." Niko interjected before Tetra could open her mouth. "We've been through plenty nasty things in the past. We've faced entire packs of ravenous wolves, nearly endless snake pits, fire-breathing monsters, giant birds, homicidal flora, the incredibly creepy undead, and loads more. And you know what? We're still here! We've been trained perfectly to face whatever Dante and his cronies can bring us, because no matter what they can send us, we have our unity, and our unity will prevail over their numbers. That's what I believe."

The rest of the pirates did not speak. Instead, they stood rather oddly for a second, trying to digest everything that he had said, but eventually, they all sided with him, giving the revolutionists determined faces despite the high-risk venture they were about to face.

"Wow. You're really above the norm, being so tight-knit like that." Alexa commented. "Well, personally, I say we go. If we're gonna take down Dante, the sooner the better, I say. What do you say, revolutionists? Should we give it a go?"

"Well, we're not a lot, but we can make a difference if we work together." Phil reasoned.

"I'm all for it. I'm gonna get our supplies and the map." Dennis answered and retired to a faraway corner in the room.

"I'm not sure if I can be of much help... but I promise I won't be such a coward anymore." Linebeck said decidedly.

"It's decided, then!" Miyahon exclaimed happily. "We'll get going soon! Time to give Dante a good what for! Time to kick some butt! Time to dethrone the dictator! Time to take matters on our own hands! Time to..."

"Dude..." Zuko stepped forward and stopped Miyahon from continuing. "Calm down."

* * *

"Emperor." A random soldier reported in at Dante's office for his progress. "Unit 23 has completed its mission. We've apprehended the traitors and... burned the headquarters."

"Very well, soldier. You may retire. Your unit will receive a new assignment soon." Dante dismissed the soldier from his office while he attended some other matters in his desk.

"Y... yes, sir." the soldier stuttered before turning around to leave.

"Wait... what was that just now?" Dante raised his head and finally started talking directly to the soldier. "Did I sense a hint of... doubt? Why do you hesitate?"

The soldier fidgeted with the doorknob, incapable of explaining exactly what troubled him. "Well, it's just... that place we raided... don't take this the wrong way, but, personally, I... I don't think it was really an enemy base of any sort." Dante jumped at the soldier's sudden outburst, making the lowly man quiver in fear. "Y... you see, there wasn't anything related to the underground revolution. In fact, it l... looked like a normal house... there were even k... kids inside."

Despite what he would normally qualify as a sign of defection for Dante, the bearded man simply stood up calmly and looked at the soldier with a stern leer that contrasted his relaxed voice. "My boy, you don't seem to understand. It is my job to find out where the terrorists hide, and it's your job to control them. Don't try to cross the line."

"Well, that's fine and all, sir..." the soldier continued despite Dante's deteriorating demeanor. "but we've just been... well, I think we've been doing as much destruction as the terrorists. I'm sorry! I just... I can't keep this bottled up."

"My dear unnamed soldier." Dante continued. "You have to learn a few things form the art of waging war. For example, the enemy will always try to get the jump on you. Stealth, sneaky tactics, gonzo tactics, backstabbing, what have you. When you're at war, you're always exposed to the enemy. So what do you do? Expect the unexpected. Discover them before they discover you. Learn their patterns and anticipate their movements. Isn't that right, Captain Tetra?"

The soldier was initially confused, but when he noticed a few thuds and steps, he tilted his head to look beyond Dante and found there were several people that were not there before who probably entered through the recently opened window. He recognized one of them, since he's had to plaster many of those posters all over the land. It was her, the the one with the big bounty on her her head, the only one required to be brought alive: It was Captain Tetra, in the flesh.

Somehow, he expected her to be taller and bulkier.

"I'm surprised you even remember me." Tetra remarked. "One would guess I'd be one of those people you'd rather forget about, Emperor Dante."

"Well, you shouldn't be surprised." Dante said, turning to face the captain. "You'd think I want to have nothing to do with you, but that's far from the truth. If you haven't noticed, you're the only one I seek alive in this bounty request. You are our goal, and the only reason we didn't got you before is because you weren't ready, _captain_." He then turned sideways and delivered a rather smug look towards the pirates. "Or should I say... princess?"

These words shocked the group of pirates, but for Tetra, it was little more than a mild surprise. "So, how long you've known?" She asked.

"Oh, since the beginning." Dante explained. He leaned on his desk as he collected his thoughts and began discovering it all. "You see, when I got here about five years ago or so..."

"There's that time again." Mako commented.

"... I learned of a great Demon King that was imprisoned here in an age gone by. This Demon King waged a relentless war with the forces of good, but in the end, the good side managed to imprison him. In order to seal him, the good ones spread chains all along the land, and sustained them through their proxies that hold to their will to this day. The Demon's name..."

"... Is Ganondorf, right?" Nudge interjected.

"What? NO!" Dante spat out furiously.

"Are you sure?" Nudge continued while reasoning with his comrades. "I mean, big bad demon, battling against nature and goodness, imprisoned and probably seeking his way out... that's sounds like Ganondorf from what I heard."

"Well, it's not Ganandwarf, whoever he is!" Dante roared furiously. "He, the Demon King, is called Malladus! And I am his loyal servant, seeking only to return him to this world with a new body and a newfound thirst for vengeance against those who wronged him!"

"Nice." Tetra commended her opponent with scattered applause. "I find it nice when people find a purpose in life. Don't you find it nice, Link? It's nice indeed. However!" Tetra stomped on the floor for emphasis as she went to make her point. "I'm afraid you've followed the wrong ideal. This Mallardeuce has led you to a path of self-destruction. What will the people say when they find out all this you've said?"

"HA!" Dante let out a single, loud laugh, feeling absolutely no threat over Tetra's words. "And who is the one that's gonna tell them? You? Like they'll believe anything you tell them now!"

"Really then?" Tetra retorted slyly. She then pointed beyond where Dante was standing. "You! Soldier boy! Don't you dare go out that door without listening what I have to say now." The soldier was immediately frozen in place, incapable of doing anything despite the dark looks Dante gave him. Tetra then snapped her fingers, which prompted Mako to take out a folder and give it to his captain. "This is from the desk of your precious Emperor Dante. Here's a summary of the more questionable laws and decrees in Waarheid... you know, the stuff that makes you wonder why would anyone would follow this." She then opened the report Mako had written and she began reading form where the juicy stuff began. "Let's see. The anti-government propaganda ban... we already went through that before. Prohibition in a creation of political parties of any sort... because if the people have power they can question the law. You'd need to have permission from the Emperor or a close representative to create a club... to make sure they're not talking bad of you, Dantie? Nearly-unrestricted military power to search any non-residential building... Why?"

"Stop that!" Dante roared furiously. "You probably don't even know why those were even made."

"Wow, look at him go." Mako told his comrades from the sidelines. "And the really juicy stuff doesn't really begin until page five!"

"I hope you're listening, boy." Tetra reiterated to the soldier standing by the door. "I can't even begin to describe the depths of this report. And you." She then turned her attention to Dante. "It seems you've forgotten one pivotal point. Exactly why did you build Waarheid? Why did it have to be so frickin' big? And where do I fit into all this?"

"Do you really want to know?" Dante asked darkly. Tetra answered with a determined nod. "Don't blame me if you start crying and bawling over this. As I told you, I am the loyal servant of the great Malladus."

"Are you sure it's not Ganondorf we're talking about here?" Nudge asked.

"NO!!!" Dante yelled, frustrated. "Malladus is nothing like that guy! He is strong and powerful. So much that the good deities could not destroy him, so they had to imprison him. But now I will free him. At first, I wanted to create Waarheid to cover and eventually destroy all the chains set all over the land. This task proved very difficult for one man, but then two twin witches came along. They told me many things... mysterious, cryptic things, and then I toled them what I wanted to do. They said they could help, and they began covering the chains, and with their help, Waarheid was built up in a matter of days. However, they told me this was not going to last a long time, and they told me of one way to make it permanent. Can you guess what comes next?"

Tetra was thinking about all that she heard, and deep in thought, she said the only thing that got to her head. "Hexing ritual?"

"Y... eh... well, yes." Dante stumbled on his words, fully expecting another answer. "A ritual is required. You see, Malladus requires a new body to reenter this world, and any old body would simply not do. Thus, it was by the twin witches that a worthy sacrifice was presented to us. Someone with the magical power and the lineage to sustain his spirit so he will rule again. That someone... is you, princess."

Tetra had to harden her faction to avoid showing the surprise she felt. So this was it, she thought. They want her as a sacrifice to revive a Demon King who would most likely destroy the world if given the chance. She simply could not let this happen. This was to be stopped now, but there was still one nagging question she had to ask before she would do anything. "But then... why didn't you capture me the first chance you got? We were face-to-face at least two times before, and you let me go!"

"I told you, you weren't ready." Dante explained. "You had to awaken your powers in full before we could use you as a worthwhile sacrifice. It took a while, and I even thought we wouldn't make it in time, but here you are! Your mystic aura radiates brightly. Why, you're a pirate in dress only. Now all we need is to..."

"No, I don't think you'll capture me that easily." Tetra said, walking around the room until she and her crew were on the other side, between Dante and the soldier. "You see, you're all alone here, and no matter what you can pull off, you cannot get me. You know that, don't you. Otherwise, you would have already captured me."

"It's funny how you're wrong, princess." Dante said smugly. "You think you're safe now, but I always have an ace up my sleeve. Soldier, call for reinforcements and apprehend this group of insurgents! If you do, I'll remember you in the day Malladus is revived and your benefits will be great!"

The soldier did not know what to do, for the first time in what he could remember, he was incapable of making a clear decision. There was Dante, the guy in charge, the one who paid his salary and whose word was absolute in Waarheid. And then there was Tetra, who had brought some rather odd truths to light, and the fact that she's barely scratched the surface of what Dante's been hiding did not help matters either.

"You've heard what I had to say." Tetra addressed the soldier directly. "Your eyes have been opened, which is why you have these conflicting emotions. But if you look deep inside, you'll know what's right... and act upon it."

The soldier covered his face with his hands while he thought intensely about what to do. His mind felt like it was about to break in half because of all this. Eventually, he came to a decision and silently opened the door and made to leave.

"Atta boy! I'll remember you!" Dante reiterated.

However, the soldier had other plans. He removed his helmet and set it on the floor alongside his weapons, and then he stood back up, looking straight at Dante with a look of clear contempt. The ex-soldier then looked at Tetra and gave her a sincere smile and a salute.

"And what's your name, boy?" Tetra asked the ex-soldier.

"It's Flint, ma'am." The man answered.

"That's a nice name. Now, spread the word, Flint." Tetra said before the man left the room.

"I guess this town really is filled with bumbling fools." Dante lamented, sighing loudly while he rubbed his eye sockets. "I guess the old saying is true: if you want something done right..." Suddenly, a large purple orb formed right in front of Dante, and it grew until it was three-quarters of his height before he released it straight to Tetra. Link thought quickly and threw Tetra his Magic Armor, which she used to cover herself with the purple reflecting shield just in time to avoid the blast and have it bounce back to Dante. "This is going to sting." He said.

Suddenly, the window in the third floor of the Emperor's office shattered open with a grand purple blast, and a large body flew off and crashed through the ground. Dante was feeling furious about that stupid mistake, but he could do little about it, nor would his screams be heard, since he was trapped inside a purple bubble two sizes too small for him.

"Wow. It was that easy?" Niko asked bewildered as the group looked at the trapped Dante from above.

"Of course not." Tetra responded, grabbing the hilt of the cutlass just in case. "He did that magic, and I'll bet he can undo it. Come on, guys, diplomacy time's over. This means war." She then ran to the door of the office and left immediately, followed by Link and the pirates. They ran down the stairs and out the main door to a crowded street full of curious people wanting to see what had happened. They managed to make it to Dante's crater just in time to see the purple bubble dissipate, just as Tetra predicted.

"All right, now this is an audience." Tetra said loudly and resumed reading from the report. She decided to skip a few pages to get straight to the juicy stuff. "Listen, people! Did you know Dante keeps tabs on your every movement? He has a dossier for every family, business, organization, individual, etcetera, just in case someone turns rogue." Upon hearing this, the crowd began chattering loudly, apparently intrigued by what Tetra had to say. "What else is here... Oh! Decree #03250-D: This one gives Dante alone complete control over banishing anybody he doesn't like. Seriously, folks, that's how it's written in the decree."

Just then, Dante began emerging from his resting place and, though covered in dirt and debris, was visibly angered against Tetra. "You! You come in **MY** city, question **MY **authority, try and trample over** ME**, and now spread blatant lies about **ME**!"

"Lies?" Tetra asked as if someone was wrong about a math question. "No, no, no. Everything here can be supported by the documents with _your_ signature in them. There is no lie passing through my lips, and you know it." She then turned her back to Dante and faced the bulk of the group. "This, people, is the man that you call your leader. A controlling maniac who actually has a thing for demons and world destruction. He's done unthinkable things, and these I just read are only the beginning. And to think he's done this in only five years. What was life here before then? Don't remember? Then I'll tell you: It was beautiful and peaceful! This was a land chosen by the Goddesses to become a prosperous kingdom where everyone could pursue their true happiness, and I was chosen as the ruler of this land. When I rule, every single one of these ridiculous laws will be disposed of, and a new free life will begin! I only ask you that you wait a little as I displace Dante for good."

"So that's it." Dante interrupted Tetra's speech. "It comes down to this. A battle to determine who goes and who stays."

"Yeah. That's right. This is it." Tetra said, unsheathing her cutlass and holding it with both hands right in front of her face. "Come on, Dantie boy. Let's tango."

Evil Emperor

**Dante**

Tetra did not wait and decided to try giving the first strike, so she charged forward with her cutlass and made to slice Dante right down the middle. However, Before the blade could touch skin, it slammed into an invisible barrier and ricocheted right back, knocking Tetra off balance. Seeing her partner down, Link rushed forward and jumped for an overhead strike. Dante, however, was quick on the take and focused on the green boy, and Link was knocked back before getting too close.

"Talk about unfair." Dante berated while taking a few steps back. "Two against one... you're really sneaky with these types of attacks. Well, in that case let me level the playing field. Soldiers!"

Almost immediately, a flurry of soldiers emerged from nearby and started surrounding Link and Tetra. The soldiers unsheathed their swords and were ready to battle in a moment's notice.

"Well, Link..." Tetra whispered while clutching her cutlass tightly. "I'm sure you have a strategy for this, right?" Link thought for a second, and then nodded while checking the contents of his bag. "Well, then, time to do what you do best."

"Attack!" Dante bellowed. He then walked further back and decided to safely enjoy the show. All the soldiers in the area jumped to the call and attacked at the same time. Link was faster, however, and pulled out his Deku Leaf, and used a mighty wind blast to knock a line of soldiers away. He then jumped in front of Tetra and did a sweeping motion that blew a great deal of soldiers off their balance. Tetra quickly sheathed her sword and used it as a staff, striking soldiers all over while ducking and twisting about to avoid any sort of attacks they could pull off.

Before long, the rest of the pirates broke through the line and joined Tetra and Link in the fray. Senza battled the soldiers directly while Niko climbed atop the busy ones and drove them to the ground. Nudge, Mako and Gonzo battled back-to-back-to-back in a precise form, taking down soldiers left and right. And Zuko... he was left alone, battling about ten soldiers at a time. The soldiers never had a chance.

"Miss Tetra!" Gonzo yelled while blade-locked with a relentless soldier. "We'll take care of things here! You and Link go get Dante!"

"Are you sure?" Tetra asked just before hitting a soldier in the gut with the cutlass' sheath.

"Yes!" Gonzo insisted while finally pushing the soldier away and kicking him in the knee. "We'll be fine. There are bigger fish to fry ahead, so go!"

No sooner had they agreed that, Link pulled a large jump and blew a great deal of soldiers away with his Deku Leaf, clearing a way out of the melee and straight towards Dante. He then grabbed Tetra's arm and pulled her out before the soldiers could recoup.

"Dante!" Tetra yelled after finding the bearded man sitting in a chair near a crumbling building. "Don't you dare run anymore! We'll settle this now!"

"Are you sure you want to fight me?" Dante spoke rather calmly. "Last time you tried, you couldn't even touch me. What makes you think this will be different?"

"Because... I can see." Tetra retorted rather smugly. "I can see your tricks, and I can see through your deception. I can see, just like everybody else is becoming able to see. But also..." Then, her eyes began to glow a ethereally golden glow. "I can see where you're hiding." This specific revelation had both Link and Dante confused. If Dante was there in plain sight, where could he be hiding exactly. "Don't act so surprised, Dante. I see the shield surrounding you. That shield doesn't cover you entirely, though, does it? It only covers wherever you're focused on, am I wrong? All I have to do is take you out of focus and you'll be easy pickings."

"Hmm... impressive." Dante conceded, his face contorted in a suppressed surprise. "You did figure that part out. But I wonder..." He then stood up from his seat and extended his right arm, from which a purple energy sword emerged. "Will that be enough?"

Suddenly, Dante charged towards Tetra, which forced the blond captain to unsheathe her cutlass quickly to block the advance. Link quickly countered and ran to the dictator's back and sent a bomb arrow flying. Dante, however, managed to break the lock just in time to refocus on the bomb arrow enough to avoid being blown by it. Tetra took this opportunity to try and stab Dante with her cutlass, but Dante swung his Energy Sword rapidly and blocked the attack quickly. "You're got to be better than that to defeat me, princess." Dante calmly said.

"Don't worry, I will." Tetra retorted. She joined Link's side and decided to do a joint attack on Dante. They drew their swords and charged at Dante rapidly, catching the man by surprise. Tetra managed to enter a good swipe at Dante, but Link was blocked by Dante's shield. The emperor, taken aback by his carelessness, stumbled backwards and set his Energy Sword in a defensive position before continuing. "All right, Link, we can do this! All we gotta do is distract him." Tetra explained, feeling pleased in finding a weakness in the mighty emperor. They then charged again in unison, with swords ready for stabbing, when...

"ENOUGH!" Dante bellowed. In his bellowing, a large shock wave knocked Link and Tetra straight back and a large pillar of green fire emerged from the ground in front of Dante. Tetra and Link sported dual gazes of amazement and horror as the only things visible from Dante through the flames were select parts of his face, including his eyes shining green from the flame's glow. "You dare make a mockery of me! Then you shall suffer as no one else has!" The dictator then extended his arm and launched the wall of flames towards Tetra, and the duo jumped off in opposite directions just in time to avoid getting singed. Dante then summoned a circle of flames around him, and expanded it all around him, torching everything that was in its path. Luckily, Tetra and Link had found refuge behind stone walls and suffered no real damage besides a few extra beads of sweat.

"He knows MAGIC?!" Tetra exclaimed. This definitely changed her whole strategy for her, since they had to approach Dante and distract him while they avoided getting blasted with whatever he knew. For her, it wasn't that big a problem, since she held the Magic Armor, but what about Link? If she wanted to truly win this, she needed to go and expose herself, even if it meant risking death... or worse, capture. Tetra looked around, and when the coast was clear, she ran off into the shade.

"Hey, Dante! Over here!" Tetra called out from a faraway pile of debris to the left of where Dante was looking. When Dante turned to see, Tetra had the Magic Armor on her left and and Mako's report on the right hand. "People, listen now! The truth of your great emperor! A law has been passed enacting Dante total unilateral control over taxation and the use of said funds. Would YOU like to know what they do with that money you give them? Well, though luck! Also, here's a puppy... kicking... you're not serious! A puppy-kicking and kitty-drowning law? I knew you were bad, but this? This is just evil. You don't mess with cats."

"You don't know!" Dante yelled out while stomping his way to Tetra, all this while the crowd nearby was chattering about what they just heard, and even some brave ones talking out loud about how they felt things were wrong some time ago. "Those... cats! Always meowing at night and keeping you awake. They're annoying!"

"Annoying?" Tetra questioned. She even took a look back at her unsuspecting crowd in the background to see if they understood. When she turned back to Dante, though, her look was of complete fury and determination. "_**I! LOVE! CATS!**_"

Tetra suddenly rushed down from her perch of debris and launched herself to kick Dante right in the chin, but Dante was ready for her and was raising his hand to do some sort of magical incantation. Then, Link emerged from behind his wall and rushed to Dante at the same time, forcing the emperor to focus on the male menace first by erecting a flame wall in between Link and himself. Link managed to stop just in time thanks to his raised shield, but moreover, as soon as Dante turned around, Tetra managed to hit him squarely in the jaw with her hard boots, rendering him momentarily unaware of his surroundings. Link took advantage of this and used his Grappling Hook to tie Dante up and try to keep him immobile.

"You know that's not going to keep him down, right?" Tetra reminded her partner, to which Link opened her eyes like saucers and began smiling suspiciously, as if he had no real plan B. Still, this gave them time to think up another solution. "Ok, here's how I see it. Last time, we attacked right at the same time. This means Dante can't stay focused on two separate things at once. So I say we split up and attack him from opposite directions at the same time. That way, we'll manage to beat him." Just then, Dante began to stir up again, which alarmed the pair. "Ok, you go that way and I'll go this way. Remember the plan, and don't worry, we're almost at the end."

When Dante came to his senses, he found himself tightly bound, which he did not like one bit. In a furious rage, he flexed his bulgy muscles and broke the cord tying him up and freeing himself with a new-found sense of anger. He looked around until he found where Tetra was and pointed straight at her. "You!" Dante yelled at his opponent. "You think you're so smart, kicking me. Well, let's see how you like this!" Then, Dante enveloped himself in a strange eerie glow which turned his factions rather dark and rather indescribable. "Now, let's just say that you do so much as to touch a hair of mine. You do so, and you'll be instantly encased in an inescapable trap and ready for our sacrifice."

"And let's just say this!" Tetra retorted by revisiting the report. This time, however, she skipped almost to the end, where the most dangerous stuff was described. Before reading out loud, however, Tetra's eyes opened up in shock and she could not believe what was written in there. "PEOPLE! You HAVE to listen to this!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, gathering the attention of every civilian nearby, who were already rapt in attention. "Three things are described here, and you will not believe it! One, the creation of super secret jails in three different places, all with the express intent of taking many of the prisoners and subject them to horrendous torture until death! Two, the Waarheid New Life program, where old memories are suppressed so nobody remembers anything before this place was built! Three, the Emergency Waarheid Destruction plan, to be enacted as of this writing, gives Emperor Dante absolute authority to go ahead and destroy your city in part or whole for ANY reason by just giving the word! This includes killing anybody that he deems necessary with no distinction of age, gender, occupation, social status, etcetera!" At this point, the crowd was chattering loudly amongst themselves, some even yelling stuff directly at Dante, stuff such as 'traitor' and 'murderer'. This, combined with Tetra's complete smug satisfactory look, made Dante's anger build up to a extreme.

"So what!" Dante yelled so loudly it echoed through the town. "I never really cared of this place! Yeah, I said it! I let these people live because it was fun for me, and I needed a good cover for when you got here! Now all that is irrelevant, since all I have to do is touch you once and it's all over. So come on! Try and battle me without touching me, and you'll find how impossible it is!"

"Impossible you say?" Tetra questioned. She then rushed right at Dante with her cutlass drawn in front of her. Then, right at the final moment, She took a crucial step back before Dante could reach her, and when he realized what her grinning face meant, it was too late: Link had already launched a bomb arrow from behind, which exploded right by Dante's feet, making him fly forward about a foot before landing on his face. "I think you'll find it very possible indeed." Tetra finished.

Dante was quick to stand up, and he quickly stood sideways to try and focus on both Link and Tetra, who were standing at opposite sides from him. Dante then created two Energy Swords from his hands and launched them at both his opponents, but they were far enough to avoid them swiftly. Dante tried again and again to hit them with Energy Swords, but Tetra and Link were keeping up with the attack just fine. In the midst of this attack, Link pulled out his bow and pointed at it to Tetra, which prompted her to equip her own, and when the time was right, they both powered their arrows, Link with ice and Tetra with light. As soon as Dante let up for a second, the pair let their arrows fly at the same time. Dante thought Tetra's arrow to be the more dangerous one and swatted it away with his Energy Sword, but that gave way for Link's ice arrow to freeze nearly every part of his body. Then, Link and Tetra joined once more and quickly launched a pair of bomb arrows right at Dante's frozen body.

The blast was so magnificent and earth-shattering, that even Link and Tetra, and even the crowd that was witnessing the battle were knocked back by it. When the smoke cleared, Dante laid on the ground, charred and motionless.

"Ha, HA!" Tetra laughed in between heavy breathing. "In the end, you were just a petty enemy. Durable, yes, but petty. He was kinda like a rabbit, in a cosmic kind of way." She then turned around to see the crowd looking at the aftermath of the battle in silent curiosity. She looked at Link, and they both knew the best course of action was just to tell them what's been going on. "People of this land, listen to me. Your ex-emperor Dante was not who you think he was. He was a man possessed by an evil ideal, and he sought to revive an ancient evil that would have killed us all." Right then, the crowd gasped loudly, and some even showed signs of horror. "I know, it would not have been pretty if he had succeeded. However, we, those who will take care of this land like it were our own child, have bested him, and he will no longer be capable of pursuing his dream."

"Captain!" A faint but discernible voice was heard from among the crowd.

"I know of his goals because I have this..." She then showed the report that Mako had prepared for her to the public. "If you still have doubts, I can make sure you get a copy of this so you can see for yourself."

"Captainnnn..." The voice spoke again, this time in a more alarmed tone. The voice also had a body, and it looked like Niko.

"But now that Dante is done for, it will be time for a new beginning. I know some of you may have doubts as to why we're the ones who will take the reins of this land, but I will assure you that all will be made clear in time. Why..." She then turned to face Link with a most devious smile. "... I even have the name for the book. What do you think of 'A Kingdom Reborn'?"

(A/N: 'A Kingdom Reborn' was the original title for ZOoL. It was like that until about a week before it premiered. Now back to your story.)

"CAPTAIN!" Niko yelled, already in front of the crowd. This made Tetra leer at him dangerously, which meeked him out. Still he had to say what he had to say, and sadly, there was no way to sugarcoat it. "He... he's not done."

"What do you mean? Who's not d..." Suddenly, the realization of what Niko meant hit her like a ton of bricks. Tetra's factions dropped, her arms flopped down, and her feet threatened to fail her. She did not dare to turn around, but she had to now that Niko mentioned it. When she finally braved a look, Tetra noticed that among the charred Dante, his face had turned from straight down to looking right at her with large, anger-filled eyes.

"Y... you..." Dante spoke through labored breaths. He struggled to stand up, but each and every movement he made was an exercise in pain. "You're truly... one of a kind. Malladus... will be so proud of me... when I bring him... such a marvelous body." When Dante had finally stood up, his pitch-black frame made him look even more menacing than he looked before, effectively frightening the bulk of the crowd into retreating from the area. Tetra and Link were frozen in place, as if they were pelted by Deku Nuts while facing a couple of screaming redeads, and while they couldn't react, Dante quickly reached with his arm and grabbed Tetra's head, making her captain's hat fly off and destroying her bun. Tetra emitted a frightened scream... but afterwards, nothing happened. Dante waited a few seconds, but nothing was working. "The power... it's gone. Why is it gone?" Furious, Dante jerked his arm around and threw Tetra right to the ground face-first.

"My, you sure are resilient." An elderly voice commented from within the remaining crowd. When the voice was heard, the crowd parted to let an old woman with light-purple hair and a mechanical wheelchair through. "When I knew knew of this confrontation, I rushed here as soon as I could. I'm glad I made it so fast, and I wouldn't have done it without the Spirit Train." Those last words made Dante gasp loudly. There was something seriously wrong with his plan if those words were really true. "You know what this means, right? That little curse you and those witches tried to set on the Spirit Tracks has been finally lifted. Your plan of reviving Malladus has failed."

Just as soon as Anjean had uttered those words, an ethereal light began to shine around several points in the ruins of Waarheid, criss-crossing around and evaporating whatever debris it came in contact with. Dante managed to step away from an incoming light and witnessed as the light cleared the area and replaced the debris with a clean chain-patterned path with some fresh grass in the corners. This happened all over Waarheid, leaving the people either very amazed or very scared.

Meanwhile Link was tending over Tetra's new wound in her forehead and trying to make her wake up. He cleaned some of her blood off, but when he touched just too close to the wound, Tetra stirred with a wimpy groan of pain. "Watch it." She said groggily. When she eventually got to her senses, she opened her eyes and tried to assess the situation. "My hair... this is getting annoying. Anyway, what's happened?" She asked Link, to which the green-garbed boy simply pointed over to Anjean's position.

"Your powers are moot now, since your source is incapable of channeling them anymore." Anjean continued speaking to Dante. "I think the best thing you can do is get checked for all those burns. Maybe with some therapy you'll return to your previous look. Well, the beard is lost already, but otherwise..." She finished with a bit of a laugh.

"Yeah, that's right... Laugh at me..." Dante retorted, still finding it hard to breathe. "Poor Dante... He has lost, you say. I'll show you... why there's nothing... more dangerous... than one... who has nothing to lose. You think Malladus was my only source of power... But I developed something on my own... just in case."

Then, Dante dropped to his knees, and through great concentration and a great deal of screaming in pain, he emitted a faint yellow glow from within his body. The glow enveloped him entirely, covering every inch of his deteriorated skin and clothes, and eventually becoming bigger and bigger... so big, in fact, that everybody around him had to walk backwards to avoid getting absorbed into the yellow glow. When the glow started to dissipate, a gargantuan monster remained in its place. It had Dante's face and newly reinstated hair, but its body was unnaturally bulky, long and strong-looking. The arms looked like growing cones and its hands could barely create a proper fist, its body was almost spherical and incredibly heavy-looking, and his legs were long and proper for kicking and running. Standing up, the monster was roughly four stories tall, dwarfing almost every still-standing building in Waarheid. Indeed, Dante had managed to transform himself into a frightening and gigantic monster, causing panic all over the city.

"You may have foiled my plans, but I am still standing." Dante boomed from high above. "I cannot use you as a sacrifice anymore, but now I'm just going to kill you!"

"Niko! Gonzo!" Tetra called to the two pirates closest to her. "Find the rest of the crew and the Revolutionists, and bring every civilian you can find into the rat holes. Now!" They did not need to be told twice, and ran off to where they last saw their people. When they were gone, Tetra approached Link and pulled out her bow. "Bomb arrows at will!" She ordered. Link and Tetra armed their bows with bomb arrows and let them fly to Dante. Both arrows, pointed at different points, managed to find their target, which relieved Tetra in knowing there was no more shield to go past. However, when the dust cleared, there was not a trace of damage in Dante's body.

"What?" Tetra asked herself. Determined to find a weakness, Tetra powered a Light arrow, to which Link quickly followed with a Fire arrow. Both arrows reached Dante as well, but despite having knocked him back some, only the Light arrow managed to make some minuscule damage. "No way. This is impossible. He's all but indestructible!"

Suddenly, Dante began moving forward. For a large, bulky monster, Dante managed to walk rather briskly, meaning that Link and Tetra were forced to run at their fastest. Tetra ran admirably, but she was lagging behind the faster Link, which forced the young hero to slow his pace and carry her while he rummaged through his bag. Then, the pair entered a part of town that still had nearly-intact buildings. Link took this opportunity and aimed his Hookshot as high as he could and grappled to a high point in a three-story building. They wasted no time in entering through the building's window, yet they were not farther than halfway into the first room when Dante swept his arm across the building and brought much of the ceiling down, almost trampling the runaway pair. Link and Tetra quickly made it up to the crumbling roof and, sharing the Deku Leaf, jumped into a neighboring building just before Dante walked right by the building they just were.

While they were leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Link and Tetra lobbed bombs and Deku Nuts to Dante's face, in hopes of damaging him. While this proved handy in slowing him down, they still did not manage to bring him any sort of damage.

"What are we going to do, Link?" Tetra asked, with some desperation already creeping into her voice. "We can't keep this up all day. We HAVE to stop him!"

* * *

"In you go." Dennis motioned for the remaining civilians to enter the cave entrance that led to the famous rat holes. "Come on, guys. You're the last ones. There's space for you inside, yes. Not a lot, but it's safe."

"Oh, my. This is crowded." Anjean commented as she began to survey the interiors of the rat holes. "I sure hope I remember how to reach the Spirit Temple from here. Why, I used these things a lot when I was younger, you know. Great hiding places, they are. Once, I played hide and go seek and they didn't find me for a week, all because..."

"Well, that's that." Senza said to his comrades. The last civilian had finally entered, and only they remained outside. All that time, however, the rumbling of the floor that was most likely due to Dante's stampede was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. "Guys... We should get in... right."

"I... guess..." Nudge said hesitantly, hovering around the entrance but not being capable of going inside. "Oh, I can't do this!" He finally snapped. "Not when our captain is out there, probably within an inch of death! I can't just leave her behind!"

"I think she would've wanted us to get in that hole and remain safe." Mako pondered. This made the crew think it all over to see if it was worthwhile.

"Then I'm sorry, but I'll have to disobey her this one time." Niko said plainly. "I'm sorry, I won't do it."

"You're right, man." Gonzo concurred with Niko's way of thinking. "We have to do something to help her."

"But what?" Zuko asked. "You saw that thing... He can take a beating from any normal weapon."

"Man, Zuko's right." Nudge lamented their current uselessness. "We can't just use our bombs or blades on him. What CAN we do?"

"Maybe..." Mako began to wonder as he pointed at several random directions, trying to put his thoughts together. "Maybe normal weapons will not get him, but what about _bigger_ weapons?"

"Bigger weapons?" Gonzo questioned... but then he fell right within Mako's train of thought. "You mean like the ship's cannons?"

"Of course!" Niko lit up when he heard the idea. "There's no way that huge thing could be invulnerable to everything. And if we use extra powder, those cannonballs will fly extra hard! He won't know what hit him!"

"So..." Senza interjected, letting out a small laugh. "I guess we're back to doing what we do best."

"Blowing stuff up..." Zuko uttered while rubbing his hands together and growing a wide grin. "Goody."

Meanwhile, the group of Revolutionists watched carefully at the pirates and their movements. "These guys are crazy." Phil commented. "That Dante needs to get stopped, yes, but like that?"

"Well, who knows." Alexa said calmly. "Maybe they have the right idea. Maybe we ought to get in on the act as well. What do you think, Linebeck. Linebeck?"

Linebeck was there, but it was as if he weren't, as he was deep in thought over something he would simply not talk about and, like Mako, he preferred to point around in random directions while thinking. Suddenly, his face was awash with some sort of clear understanding. "My ship!" He yelled. He looked all over, and when he finally found his heading, he bolted right out of the place. "Don't worry guys! I'm not running away! I'll be back, I promise!" He yelled while disappearing within the debris.

* * *

Dante's pace had slowed, which gave Tetra and Link some much needed breather space. However, the large monster now focused on stomping on the floor extra hard, which made the duo spring out of the floor, and pelting them with stones of every kind and size. Link tried batting the rocks right back with his sword, but all he managed was avoid getting trampled by tons of rocks while getting covered in dust and debris.

"Link, it's no use!" Tetra called out her partner and grabbed his arms to make him stop. "There's nothing we know that will damage him. He'll just continue his rampage until he somehow runs out of energy, and then... Well, I don't know what would happen next."

Just then, a black flying sphere flew right above Dante's head, surprising Link and Tetra, and even the monstrous Dante. "What the..." Just before Dante could finish, another sphere flew about... only this time, it hit its intended target: Dante. The humongous monster was knocked down for the first time since he adopted that form, and he grabbed his left shoulder with his hand. Tetra and Link could make out small splotches of blood protruding from the fingers, a clear sign that Dante was not just a hard-rock monster, but had a soft, squishy interior.

"Could that be..." Tetra wondered. Just then, her answer arrived in the form of yet another sphere. This one conked Dante right on the head, and it ricocheted and bounced to where Tetra and Link were. They inspected it, and they were certain: those were their own cannonballs, straight from the pirate ship. "Gonzo and the rest... The guys might have done it!" Tetra yelled in excitement.

"Taken off guard." Dante lamented having been pelted, which resulted in her current concussion and bleeding. "No more." He then stood up, and instead of facing Tetra and Link, he faced the way where the cannonballs were coming from: he was staring right at a red dot in the sea, which turned out to be the Great Sea Pirate Ship.

Dante began walking, then running, right towards the ship, ready to bring retribution to those who dared hurt him even in that large form. This began alarming Tetra, whose expression quickly dropped to one of worry. "The guys. No! Link, let's go!" She ordered, and before Link could be truly ready, Tetra pulled on him and started chasing after Dante. "I don't know how, but we have to stop him! We have to distract Dante... no matter WHAT!"

Meanwhile, on the pirate ship, the pirates were already cheering over seeing Dante stumble over and fall through their telescopes. Hey knew their plan was working, and they knew taking the cannons out to the top deck worked to get the distance they needed, and all they needed to do was keep it up and eventually, Dante would have to fall for good.

But then, they noticed something was wrong. Even though they were knocking him back and they were drawing blood with each successful strike, the cannonballs were no longer stopping Dante entirely. Even worse, the monster was actually getting closer and closer, advancing straight at them.

"This is not good." Nudge said, alarmed. "We have to stop, now!"

"But then Dante will only go back and attack the Captain!" Niko reasoned. "We can't stop now! We can do it, guys."

Thus the pirates continued to use their cannons as fast as they could load them. They also used their catapult to throw large barrels of gunpowder and bundles of spiky spheres to try and get Dante to wince in pain if he stepped in them. They had also pulled out the heavy manual artillery, with such things as bazookas, boomsticks, and stacks of dynamite. Their aim was marvelous for such an improvised offensive, but for some reason, no matter how many cannonballs they managed to hit Dante with, and no matter how much blood they drew from him, the monstrosity simply did not wish to stop for one second.

"... He's not stopping." Nudge said in almost a whisper as Dante's furious expression was becoming clearer and clearer to them. His voice was trebling, and his breath began to become shallow. His eyes were widening, and his body was sweating bullets. He was a three-year old again, deathly afraid of the monster under his bed. Only... the monster was right in front of him. "He's going to take us. He's going to sink the ship."

"ABANDON SHIP!!" Tetra yelled out, trying to make her voice heard to those in the pirate ship. "ABANDON SHIP! THAT'S AN ORDER! JUMP OFF! RUN AWAY! I DON'T CARE, JUST GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Tetra's face was becoming fraught with panic, worried that her words fell on deaf ears. She was getting tired of running, and Dante was already out-pacing her to begin with, but she could not give up, not when her crew, her family, was in danger.

"Guys..." Gonzo addressed the rest of the pirates in the ship after just barely hearing Tetra's order. "A quick vote. Any of you in favor of leaving?" He looked around to see if anybody would raise their hands. "No shame in it, you know." The guys looked at each other, sharing the same uneasy looks. Still, none of them raised their hands. "Staying?" Gonzo asked. Niko and Zuko raised their arms almost immediately, while Senza and Mako took a small while to raise theirs. Nudge was hesitant, but eventually he also raised his hand in support. "Well, that's that." Gonzo finalized as he turned to face an ever-approaching Dante. "Our fates are sealed."

"NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Tetra yelled at their crew while still trying to catch up with Dante. "THIS IS MADNESS! DON'T STAY ABOARD! I WON'T HAVE ANY OF THAT, YOU HEAR?!"

"_It's okay, Miss Tetra."_

"What?" Tetra suddenly stopped. She could've sworn she had heard Gonzo's voice, clear as day. When she looked around, she noticed a pocket in her coat was glowing, and when she checked, a blue stone was stowed into it. "Gonzo? What are you doing?"

"_We... sort of expected this outcome to rear its ugly head sometime, Miss Tetra"_ Mako spoke through the blue stone. _"We decided what we had to do if such an event happened."_

"_We are ready. We are unafraid._" Zuko explained cleanly.

Tetra and Link could not believe what they were hearing. Ahead of them, a raging monster was running towards their pirate ship, and the crew was right there, using every bit of firepower to contain the ferocious beast, and they were only succeeding in making it angrier. Cannonballs whizzed by, and blasts of guns and bazookas filled the air, making the scene look like some war-torn battlefield still in the midst of battle.

"No." Tetra whispered when the whole of what they intended to do hit her. "NO!" She yelled louder. "I prohibit you from continuing! Stop shooting him and get outta there! Now!"

"_Don't worry, Captain."_ Niko said, his voice beginning to crack a little while talking. _"When... when I joined this crew, I knew what I had to do. This is something I have to do."_

"No you don't!" Tetra yelled again, her voice becoming hoarse from all of it. "I'm telling you, stop being stubborn and get out of there! We'll think of something else! Just move!"

"_I'm sorry, but there's no time."_ Senza reasoned._ "This is your only chance. Don't waste it."_

"_Dante will go down one way or another."_ Gonzo said. _"We'll make sure of it. You will see."_

"_Eh... just so we're clear."_ Nudge took his turn to speak. _"I don't regret being in this crew at all. No matter how much we deviated from true blue pirating."_

Tetra tried to hold them, but she could not fight back her tears. The bitter, warm tears began flowing down her cheeks, and Link could do little else but to console her and try to be strong both of them. Link however, stood back and tried not to look forward to where Dante was charging. Every time he sneaked a look, his throat felt stuck and he could barely control himself. The pair, however, stood in a desolate area listening quietly to what their friends were saying to them.

"_After this, I hope you make a grandiose kingdom. A kingdom worthy of admiration."_ Mako said.

"_Do know that wherever we are, we will look at you two... and we will smile."_ Senza said.

"_Don't let our efforts be in vain. Work past this! I won't forgive you if you don't."_ Nudge said.

"_Because we love what we do... and we love who we work with..."_ Zuko said.

"_Miss Tetra... no... Princess Zelda. I know you will make us proud."_ Gonzo said.

"_I told you, Link. Just watch me. I will be incredible."_ Niko said.

The blue stone stopped glowing right there, and any voices were cut off from Tetra and Link's earshot. "Hey... HEY!" Tetra yelled to the inert rock, her hoarse voice already cracking badly. "Guys! Don't go! DON'T GO!"

Dante's rampage was unstoppable, and he was already at the docks, making his way towards the ship. It was there when Gonzo decided to approach Niko, who was rather on edge. "You know, it's not too late." Gonzo whispered to Niko. "Jump off. Nobody will think less of you."

"No way." Niko said with finality in his voice. "I'm part of this crew to the end."

Gonzo saw this, the determination in the young pirate's eyes, the steely nerves with which he held that bazooka despite what lay ahead, and he couldn't help but admire him. "You know... I think we called you a swabbie for too long." Gonzo then gave an approving nod to Niko, to which Niko responded in kind. Then, they both looked forward, to a Dante that was basically steps away from them. "Go get them, Pirate Niko." Gonzo finished.

Then, Dante made a final leap, making to land right on top of the ship.

"_**FIRE!!!"**_ Gonzo bellowed while pointing to the body on top of the ship. In an instant, all the cannons, all the guns, all the bazookas, and the catapult filled with all the dynamite, Deku Nuts and bombs they could find were all aimed right up to the falling Dante, and a magnitude of explosions and detonations adorned the top deck of the Great Sea Pirate Ship one last time...

For Dante fell right on the ship, braking it clean in half, snapping its mast like a twig, causing a massive splash in the ocean, and forcing the ship underwater in a matter of seconds. As the ship sank, blasts and detonations could still be seen from above, almost as if the battle had endured far into the depths of the ocean.

Tetra dropped to her knees after witnessing this. She was in a state of absolute shock. She could not believe what had just happened in front of her. She could not comprehend that in a flash, her ship, with its memories and everything that was in there, as well as her crew and friends, were simply gone. She could not process it fully. For Link, he had never before felt such a sense of helplessness. His eyes darted about, waiting for something that could help him here, even though he knew full well that there was no help in this situation, and he could do nothing to reverse anything that happened here.

"No..." Tetra whispered, almost inaudibly so. "No..."

...

...

...

...

...

_**"N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O**_

_**O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O  
**_

_**O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"**_

Tetra, fast falling into irreversible despair, burst into a sprint that made her stumble and fall a couple of times before she could run nonstop. Her waning energies were a moot point, as were her pains in her head and feet. She did not care for anything in the world right now, she couldn't care less if there was a radical change happening right behind her with the ruins of Waarheid. All she cared about was knowing if her crew somehow miraculously survived such a savage attack.

"Please... please don't let it be true!" Tetra spoke to herself, trying to psyche herself into calming down. "Please... tell me this is some sort of cruel joke. I'd flog them silly, and then I'd hug them tightly. But please... this can't be true... THIS CAN'T BE TRUE!!!"

Finally, Tetra made it to the turbulent waters where her ship once was. She then began looking around the water for any sign of life or anything that could tell her that someone had survived. "GONZO!! SENZA!!" She began calling at the top of her voice. "MAKO!! NIKO!! NUDGE!! ZUKO!! Answer... answer me-e-e-e-e-e-e..." Right there, Tetra broke down in tears, having finally given in to despair and feeling utterly helpless and hopeless. "ANSWER ME!!!!"

Link emerged from the dusty ruins of the harbor, still deeply shaken by what just happened, but determined not to cry if it meant giving Tetra some sort of comfort. He approached the blond captain and very gently set a hand on her shoulder, which let her know that he was there, and he was there for her. "Link..." Tetra whispered, as her voice had already become damaged form the screaming. "They're... gone. The guys... Gonzo... Niko... Senza... they're really gone. They're... they're..." She couldn't handle it, and she hung to Link in a tight embrace, all while new tears began to stream down her cheeks. Link held on to Tetra, caressing her head and trying to calm her down in any way he could think of all while she unloaded every bit of sadness she could wring from her heart.

Eventually, The tears stopped, and Link and Tetra broke the embrace. Link then took out a napkin and gave it to Tetra, which she used to clean her face from the unsightly stream left by her tears. Afterwards, they both approached the border of the harbor and looked over at the horizon, and for the first time in a long time, they did not know what they had to do now.

"What now?" Tetra asked. "We can't do this alone. We have no heading. I lost the compass and the book... and now... It just feels like that day, where I had to be captain overnight... only now, I don't even have my crew."

Tetra hung her head, feeling helpless again. While it may be true that they might have won, it didn't really feel like a victory to her, and the long sets of hard work that laid ahead were not encouraging, either. In all this, however, Link approached her, and decided to get her attention and make her feel better.

"You know..." He began. "There was a time where I felt like that. Silly, right? Well, it happened. It was when I was... well, you know... trapped by those Wallmasters. The things I experienced when I was in that realm were the stuff of nightmares. Horrible, terrifying things that I can't even begin to describe. It sucks the life and joy right out of you, and makes you feel like you're nothing but a hollow husk of a person. I was almost ready to give in and let myself die... but then something sneaked in. It was a voice, and that voice was calling out my name. That voice said that I was needed." Tetra's eyes began to sparkle and water again as she realized where Link's story was going. "That voice... it was you, wasn't it? You called for me, because you needed me. You know, thanks to that, you saved my life. It was then when I decided I was not gonna let myself die there, that I was going to do everything I could and then some to return and be there for you. And... well... I never really properly thanked you for it. Thank you, Tetra."

Tetra's eyes were filling up with unshed tears, but she didn't felt nearly as sad as she was just a while ago. "You and your eloquent speeches." She mock-admonished her partner.

"So... We may not have a heading now." Link continued. "We may not know how to build a house, even. But eventually, we'll be able to build this kingdom. We'll be able to finally do what we were set out to do that night, so long ago. I know it, and the crew knew it. That's why they did what they did, because they believed in you. You gave them what no other captain this that sea would have given them... a place to call home, and the love and consideration to treat them as they were, as people. Yes, I am sad as well, but I will not waste their effort. We can finish this, if we work... together."

"Oh, Link!" Tetra let out before throwing herself to his arms and holding him in yet another tight embrace.

"Tee..." Link said as he answered the embrace.

Neither of them saw the enchanted wall flying at top speed towards them.

The enchanted wall pushed the pair with great force right into the sea, where the turbulent, raging waves forced them apart and away from the coast and deeper into the ocean.

"LINK!" Tetra called out while trying to remain above water in the furious ocean.

"TETRA!" Link called out from afar, his body confused by the turquoise sea color and still struggling despite his horrible swimming skills.

And then, they lost sight of the coast, and of each other. Link and Tetra struggled to survive in the unforgiving current of the sea, a task proving to be more and more difficult each passing minute. Their only hope is that whatever destination the sea was choosing for them, they could somehow find themselves alive.

And the only thing remaining from the battle was a lone tattered pirate flag, which floated slowly to the surface.

**To Be Continued**


	17. The HalfTruth

REVIEW ANSWERIN' time does not necessarily reflect the opinions of this web site or its advertisers:

u00dfrady: [Holds big, toothy, shameless grin] I kinda led you all on there, didn't I? Truth is, Link speaking was planned from the get go. My only problem was that I couldn't find enough opportunities to clue you in that Link _could_ speak without actually _letting_ him speak. The earliest clue? "I don't need your eloquent speeches..." Also, the pirates saying Link told them this or that... you know, stuff you simply can't emote your way out of. I kinda sucked in cluing you in, it seems. As for Niko and Gonzo... I don't want to spoil you or anything... so I'll just say re-read the last few chapters. There's at least one clue that relates to their fates. Oh, and I don't mind your interpretation of what was to happen. Why, I still think about the stuff. But, this story has a purpose, and when it's fulfilled, maybe we can go and talk about the Hyrule Reconstruction Project (Or simply a few sets of one-shots based off what this story builds). And of course I had to put Linebeck in there somewhere. He's one of my favorite 'Zelda' characters ever!

shadows-of-ballance: To be honest, the chapter wasn't even supposed to end there. But I was running a bit long in the tooth (longest chapter ever and all) so I just cut down there and continued here. And a bittersweet ending? Do you really think we could see a bittersweet ending for this saga, where the future is TRAINS? Trains, I tells ya. The future can't be bittersweet with that! And thanks for supporting this story for so long. It means a lot to me.

Hoosier: And leave huge gaping plot holes hanging? No, I couldn't possibly end it on last chapter. Granted, I'm sure you'd find a couple (read: a LOT) of plot holes when it's all said and done, but I'm sure it would be better filled than if I stopped right there. I am glad you finally commented, and I'd suggest you keep on commenting because otherwise, you'll never be heard from again. NEVER! (Well, that's not exactly true, but...)

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 17:

The Half-Truth

Feeling groggy was not something that was usually in the cards, but when one spends a long time battling the raging currents of the ocean, one is only luck that the sea did not become their grave that day. Of course, there are things that were certainly not expected: sand... and the sound of seagulls.

[CAW CAW] [CAW CAW]

The light of the sun filtering through the slowly opening eyelids was anything but pleasant, and it made everything a blurry mess of shapeless colors, but for Link, being able to notice anything but endless oceans was a plus already. He groaned loudly as his mind began to recover consciousness and he began to take in the surroundings he was on. He was laying in a rather rocky beach, and the fact that he was not pushed into one of the jagged rocks was nothing short of a stroke of luck. That specific beach was surprisingly devoid of palm trees or any other sort of vegetation, which made the fact that Link kept hearing seagulls all the more head-scratching.

"Wha... who..." Link began sitting up, and he tried to shake off as much sand from his face as possible. It was then that he noticed a pair of seagulls standing in front of him, pecking at some red leftovers in the sand. "Oh, you guys woke me up. I guess you wouldn't know where this is, right?" The seagulls looked at Link rather weirdly, and then resumed their pecking business as if nothing happened. Link sighed deeply, thinking it ridiculous to try and get directions from a bird.

He finally stood up and began assessing himself to check if everything was alright, and although he was physically fine (albeit a bit woozy from drifting in the sea), there was definitely something wrong with his tools. Although his sword and shield looked okay, the rest of the weapons were either missing, broken or incomplete: his bow had no arrows left, his Deku Leaf was ripped in half, his three remaining bombs were hopelessly drenched, his hookshot was nowhere to be seen, and he had already lost his grappling hook battling Dante. He didn't even have his trusty cap on. Thankfully, his Magical Glove looked like it was intact, and he had a couple of Deku Nuts that, despite being soaked, seemed usable enough.

Link sighed, resigned at having such a limited set of weapons, and resorted to seeing if he recognized any part of the place he was on. Unfortunately, the beach did not seem to be anywhere he had been before, what with the life-less beach filled with sharp stones and tall, steep hills that looked more like a desert than an actual beach. To his left, the beach extended up until a large rock formation closed it in as it extended deep into the ocean, and to his right, a cave-like entrance was quite noticeable from the rocky hill. "I guess the way to go was chosen for me." Link mused quietly. "What do you think, winged buddies?" He asked the seagulls. The seagulls looked at Link rather weirdly... but this time, they hopped into flight, circled a few times over Link, and then flew right into the cave entrance. "Well... considering the alternative is descent into the watery darkness..." Link commented, looking back at the taunting waves behind him. "The cave it is."

Link was grateful he didn't encounter any enemies while inside the thankfully short cave. He was feeling weary enough, and the fact that he had little in the way of defense and allies (what would the gulls do, anyway?) wasn't exactly comforting, either. The cave did not get any darker than a rainy afternoon when light started to permeate in front of him, which gave Link enough strength to rush over to the exit. What he saw didn't exactly excite him, for he was in a beach area not unlike the one he had just left, with no vegetation and plentiful in jagged rocks, with its only marked difference from before were a couple of dried up tree trunks laying haphazardly on the sand. To his left was a faraway cave entrance which, to him, began taking a rather strange and scary form the longer he stared at it. To his right, the sand gave way to the ocean, which showed no signs of any proper landmass or ships within its massive blue expansion.

Link sat down on the sand (it was truly safer than any rock he could choose) and pondered his options. There could be the chance he could find something or someone within the cave to his right, but that was clearly a long shot. On the other hand, he could use the logs in front of him to build a raft and try to get out of the beach, but he had nothing to tie the logs together, and he didn't know how much could the logs stand before breaking apart. He had to choose then: the rock or the hard place? "Man, and I'm usually good at these things." Link whispered to himself. In truth, he always did his best helping others and bringing about his opinion on the matter, but now he was completely alone, and the only sound around him was the ocean waves and the occasional seagull cry.

That, and a sudden shuffling of the sand over to the left.

Link's keen ear alerted him of the unexpected sound and he turned his gaze to see if he found anything in the beach area. As it turned out, right by a tall rock, Link could see what looked like a leather boot. It may not be much, but if one boot could make such a distinctive sound, then it probably meant something, so Link decided to check whatever it was. As he drew closer, the boot started to look attached to a rather torn piece of white clothing which looked like pants, which in turn looked to be beside a long blue piece of rough cloth, partly covered by a long streak of unkempt blond hair. As these things began revealing themselves to Link, his face began lighting up much more as he considered the implications behind it. And behind the rocks, he saw his suspicions were true.

It was her. Tetra was there as well. And, thank goodness, she was still alive and well.

Link made to talk, but somehow, the words escaped him. This would be a joyous reunion... except it's been who knows how long since the events in Waarheid. It certainly hasn't been more than a few hours, considering how clearly he could still remember everything. The mere thought of this brought his cheerful mood down alarmingly fast, to which he thought he had to do something now if he even wanted to raise Tetra's spirits some. Trying to put everything that's happened before in the back burner, he thought up some rather nice small talk to begin with and took a big hearty breath to begin.

"Seagulls."

Link felt deflated. Just as he was about to say something, Tetra stepped in and began speaking, seemingly to the seagulls nearby as she wasn't really looking over to Link.

"I envy you guys." Tetra said quietly, almost in a whisper. As she talked, she started making some crude drawings in the sand. "All through my life, I've always wanted the freedom to do as I wanted, and you have that freedom since the day you're born. You can fly anywhere, live anywhere and see everything. You guys are truly free. Why... you remind me of a story my mother used to tell me, about a girl from a dream world who wished to be as free as a bird. In short, the dream world was shattering all around her, and she pleaded to have her last wish granted. Meanwhile, in the real world, a sailor found an egg, which cracked open before him, revealing a seagull, a surprisingly mature one at that, too. Without even a chance for the sailor to catch it, the seagull extended its wings and flew away, circling all over the skies as if it were enjoying the freedom of flight to the fullest. So you see, in the end, the dream world girl's wish became true. She was transformed into a seagull, arguably the bird with the most freedom in the skies."

Tetra then turned her head lazily over to Link, implying she knew he was there the whole time. Link gasped inaudibly in surprise, but quickly recovered, though he was still incapable of thinking up anything reasonable to say. Tetra saw the hesitation in Link's eyes, and took it as a signal to turn her gaze back down to the sand, hiding her face to Link with her hair.

"I've always wanted to be as free as a bird." Tetra continued in the same whispering tone. "But I've always found myself grounded by something, as if some cosmic force desires to see me unhappy. And whenever I try something new, it will bring me some sort of misfortune, if it even works at all. I wanted to get rid of everything that meant giving up the life I knew, but destiny decided I had enough of that dream world. I wanted to make the best of the new situation, but someone was ready to trip me over with their feet and make me eat dirt. And then this time, when I was so close of finishing up everything, when I could finally feel that long deserved rest approaching around the corner... this happens."

Link could not notice any discernible change in Tetra's voice, but he could clearly read her anguished expression through her clenched fists and her jittery feet. It was clear to him that, for someone who's formed such a hard shell around herself, and for someone who's seen many things and lived many rough experiences, all these things that happened lately have been too much for Tetra to handle. The façade was crumbling, and the masks were disappearing. At this point, Link saw and he knew and understood, that this was most likely Tetra at her most vulnerable yet. This was not a comfortable position to be in, as he somehow lost the ability to form up proper words, but he knew he had to say something, even if it came out as nonsensical babble, if it meant giving Tetra some sort of comfort in the tribulations they were in.

"I... I'm sorry." It was the first words that Link could utter. He mentally kicked himself for saying them, but he decided to try and make them work anyway. "I don't really know what to say to you right now." _'What am I saying?'_ he thought to himself. _'Think up something, idiot.'_ "See, I... I miss them, too. I still can't really get over what happened, and seriously, I didn't expect to get over it so soon. But I can't just get stuck in what's happened and stay there, that's just not my nature. I prefer to move forward, and to find a way to fix things, if possible." Link began to speak faster and more fluidly as he continued to think more and more things. Still, it didn't seem to bring Tetra's attention enough to make her turn her face to him. "Well, when I was five, I lost my favorite toy soldier. I searched high and low, and I even almost fell down the island's bridge looking for it. I left no stone unturned, and eventually I found the toy well-hidden in a pigpen."

"Link, I don't think a toy compares..."

"When I was ten..." Link interrupted Tetra, feeling on a roll. "One bad joke by my sister ended up crippling me for nearly a month. It would've been more time if I wasn't stubborn enough to train a lot with Orca and get my leg back into shape. And when I was twelve..." Link did a sliding whistle to point out how big the subject had become. "If I tell you the things that happened to me when I was twelve, we'd be here all day. Then again, you were there for a good deal of them, so that shortens things. I mean, my sister got kidnapped, I got lost in the ocean for weeks, a lot of things blew on my face, I inadvertently caused a great evil to regain its powers, I locked _you_ in a castle basement, I had to chase that evil man Ganondorf down to save you only to lose you to a ghost ship, and then I found you turned to stone, and I revived you only to see you being kidnapped again by that creepy monster with many eyes... and that's not getting into detail of the stuff that's happened in between."

Link caught his breath after finishing this. He then noticed he had been going slightly off-track, and he was probably missing his own point. He then calmed down some and decided to kneel right beside Tetra to talk to her on a more personal level. "The point is... there were times when I felt like nobody would blame me if I gave up and went back home... but I didn't, because I knew that if I kept going, I would do what I set out to do. Yeah, I'm stubborn like that, but also... in each of those times, I was fighting for something worth fighting. I was giving it my all for something I love." Tetra's head involuntarily turned around to let her see Link with the corner of he eye. For all she could see, there was not a hint of playfulness or mocking manner in Link's face or expressions. He looked, talked, and even darted his eyes in the most sincere way he could. "Like... the love for my toys, and the love for my mobility, and the love for my family... and you."

Tetra's eyes widened. Her ears and brain could not immediately comprehend if Link had just said what she thought he had just said. However, even in his own weird way, and even with his circumventing through it like crazy, she was almost certain he did just said what she thought he had just said. She tried to control it, but there was no hiding her creeping smile upon her blushing face.

"This... this right now, it's just another stepping stone." Link continued. "A... I admit it's a rather large and steep one, but a stepping stone, no more. Are you gonna let this take you down, when you're basically three steps away from reaching the goal? I sure won't, and neither should you. You're not about to let this overwhelm you... not again. So... what do you say? How's about we finish this up... together?"

Tetra faced Link directly for the first time since he's started talking. Her blushing face hadn't completely gone down, but she still braved to put on a face she hadn't put on in a while: The warmest, kindest, singularly most tender gaze and smile Link's seen anyone pull. Without saying a word, she nodded once and stood up, followed by Link, and they dusted off the sand before turning around to face the ominous cave in the distance.

Side by side, they gathered their wits to enter the cave in front of them. Tetra's hand, seemingly moving on her own, began searching sideways and reaching for Link's. When her fingers grazed his hand, he immediately reacted by opening up his hand and reaching out to her as well. Their hands touched, and their fingers began to criss-cross in between each other's fingers, slowly but certainly, until they held on to each other's hand, their fingers interlaced. As a final signal of reassurance, Link gently squeezed Tetra's hand, to which she responded with a corresponding squeeze, followed with a sideways glance and smile.

Finally, they walked on. They did not know what awaited them, or how prepared they were, but so long as they were together, they felt they needed nothing else. As they approached, the cave appeared to take shape of a monstrous face, complete with leering eyes and a large, gaping maw with sharp fangs expecting its next unsuspecting victim. After all the majestic places they've been to, and after all the unsettling, surreal, unforgiving, and astounding situations they've been placed, they were finally upon what they felt was their final challenge. It was strange, as they did not know it, but they were upon the doorsteps of...

**The Witches' Keep**

The entrance led into a long, dark and low corridor, which eventually led into a brightly lit, intricately designed room unbecoming of a normal cave. This room had exquisite designs all around the bottom and top parts of the walls, a doorway locked with two locks, and two square pedestals where one could easily stand on. The room was rather small, but it gave the impression of a much larger thing hidden beyond the doors. Too bad they didn't know where to find the keys.

"Okay, so this is it, then." Tetra said, looking around the room for any particular clue. "Did... did we miss something on the way here?"

"Beats me." Link commented. "It was just a straightforward walk up to here. I would've known if I've seen or felt something." Link then broke apart from Tetra and decided to inspect the pedestals. He knocked on them and tried to shift them around, but as far as he could see, they were pretty solid and well grounded on their spots.

"I don't think they're part of solving this." Tetra suggested. "Maybe there's something outside. We should..."

Suddenly, a low rumbling noise was heard all over the room, stopping Tetra's attempts at retreating outside. Then, a screeching elderly voice boomed all around, assaulting the pair's ears with every word.

"Princess Zelda!" The old, female-sounding voice said. "You have done well to make it all the way here. You have certainly proved your worth. Now, you will have the privilege of seeing what we have seen, to know what we know, and to understand as we do. You alone can bring about change to this forsaken world, and all we ask for you to do is to show your true self. Shed the shell of your past and embrace your future. Let your true self shine through."

"Tetra..." Link spoke with a hint of alert.

"Please, Link." Tetra scoffed at Link's nervous reaction. "I know false advertising when I find it. I'm not just gonna do what they say just because they say it."

Link sighed in relief. "Well, I'm glad for that." He then made to walk back towards the entrance of the cave. "Now how about we go check the coast like you... GHAAAAAAACKACKACKACKACKACKACKACKACKACKACK!" Suddenly, Link was thrown right back to the floor due to an invisible magical wall stopping him cold, all while emitting a steady stream of smoke all over his body. His breathing became shallow, and his face seemed genuinely shocked. "Ah... I think you better do that transforming if we want to continue."

Tetra didn't want to do it. Not because she was afraid of her own power or anything, but because she hated being coerced into doing things she wasn't planning on doing anyway. Still, with no real way of moving forward, and with their only escape route magically blocked, was there really any choice for them? Tetra closed her eyes and looked inside herself to see if she had the ability to willingly do what she had done involuntarily before. She then felt like she was tapping into a enormous power source within her, a power enough to create a great deal of good or level cities much like Dante did. All she needed was to use it.

"Eh..." Tetra suddenly hesitated. She opened her eyes and looked at Link with a rather bashful face. "I, uh... I've never done this before. On my own, that is. So... I don't know how this will turn out, so... you see..."

"Oh." Link nodded simply. After some thinking, though, he opened his eyes and started nodding slowly. "_OH!_ Yeah... I see what you're... I'll... just turn around, ok? I won't peek, I promise."

Link turned away from Tetra as promised and started whistling a tune to keep himself entertained. While he was doing so, a flash of light enveloped the whole room, being brighter around the corner of his eyes. He was tempted, but decided to retain his promise and instead focused his eyes on the intricately designed walls in front of him. After a short while, the light subsided and the room returned to its normal illumination.

"Ok... you can look."

When Link turned around, he was quite surprised with the results. "Wow." (See, I told you!) Tetra's ragged clothes were nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by a sophisticated and detailed dress of pink, white and blue colors, a full pair of light-blue long gloves that went past the elbows (the magical glove was still noticeable, though), and her re-styled hair sported a golden tiara with a red ruby in the middle, as well as some assorted golden jewelry on her dress. She had successfully regained her princess-like state, and with an added bonus in that without her scary, vengeful demeanor, her overall new look was positively beautiful and pleasing to the eyes.

"So?" Tetra asked.

"I don't know how to say this..." Link mused, taking a good look at the exquisitely designed dress and rubbing the back of his neck. "but seeing you on a dress when all you wear are your regular clothes is... well... strange, but at the same time a refreshing change... and... well... just really pretty and stuff."

"Eh... thanks..." Tetra managed to answer before going full-on bashful mode.

"But... where did that come from?" Link asked, pointing to the black sheath hanging by Tetra's hip.

"Oh!" Tetra noticed her cutlass, and though it was a tad weird for her, she didn't mind it much. "I had it under the coat, so I guess it must have..."

Immediately afterwards, a large, purple cylindric force field surrounded Tetra all around, trapping her completely. Link quickly stepped forward and tried to break into the force field, but it had the same shocking effect the magical wall had on him before. "Link!" Tetra called. She punched the force field once, but the shock was so great she couldn't try again. Link, on his part, tried to push through using his shield to absorb any damage, but no matter how much he pressed forward, the force field did not budge one bit. Then, Tetra got lifted off the ground as a large vortex opened up on the ceiling directly on top of her. She tried to stay grounded, but the strength of the vortex was too much and the started floating away.

"LINK!" Tetra screamed, completely in panic.

"Don't worry! Hang on, I'll find you!" Link declared just before Tetra got completely absorbed by the vortex. After the last loose thread on the dress passed through, the vortex disappeared and the force field vanished into nothingness. "Only... I don't know how to yet." Link admitted before hanging his head in shame and covering it with his hands. He decided to take some time to think, so he sat down on one of the pedestals.

"WHAAAAAAAAH!"

Next thing Link knew, he was on the floor beside a pedestal much like the one he sat on, but on a completely different room. This room was almost claustrophobic in nature and sported a single unlocked door. Upon this, Link's resolve returned quickly and, knowing what he had to do now, he marched forward to the next room, and to find the keys to the locked doorway, where Tetra was most likely being kept.

* * *

"Welcome, Princess."

When Tetra was finally able to step on solid ground again, she was in a darkened room where she could barely even see past her own arm length. She was no longer covered in any force field, which was good, but now she was afraid to even step forward without knowing if there was a trap or a pitfall in front of her. Instead, she preferred to address the voice calling out to her. "Who are you?" She said defiantly.

"A hostile young woman, this one is, sister." A different, slightly higher-pitched voice said. A speck of blue shone briefly in the darkness afterwards.

"She has zest, that much is true, sister." The first, lower pitched voice answered. A flame of red ignited briefly in the darkness.

"Before you know our names, though..." The second voice explained. "We feel you should know some things. We shall begin, as all good stories do, in the beginning."

"Before your time, or your ancestor's time, before the Great Flood and anything that caused it."The first voice began. "Before there was even a Hyrule or a royalty... the world was in chaos. Earth and stone mixed together with water and air, and the land was formless and incapable of sustaining life. Then, one single thought changed it all..."

"Descend and create!" Just as the second voice said that, two flames ignited, one bright red and one sparkling blue, both supported by tall, black pillars with golden designs. At their sides, two small elderly women with big bug-eyes, large noses and odd, greenish skin floated atop ancient brooms, clad mostly in black clothes with gold lining and white cloths with red and blue lines. They were identical in nearly every point, except that one had a big, red jewel adorning her white hair and the other one had a big blue jewel on her hair instead. Tetra could not believe it, but these were most likely the witches that Mendoza was talking about before.

"Wait... you..."

"Bup, bup, bup." The witch with the red jewel interrupted Tetra before she could continue. "You might want to avoid making questions before you hear everything."

"Like hell I do!" Tetra snapped back. "Who are you two? Why do you want me here?"

"All in good time, dear." The witch with the blue jewel interjected. "But I agree we cannot continue without a proper introduction, wouldn't you say, sister?"

"Very well." The witch with the red jewel agreed, and faced Tetra on a mock-bow. "Princess Zelda, I am Koume."

"I am Kotake." The witch with the blue jewel addressed in a mock-bow as well. "We are the Sorceress Sisters of the lost land of Gerudo."

"We are who have seen everything as it was before... and everything as it will be." Koume continued. "We know what sort of vile, stupid mistakes were done in the past, and what can be done to prevent those tragedies from repeating themselves."

"The creation of the land was a momentous event." Kotake said. "The Three Golden Goddesses descended on the chaos of this world and gave it form and order. When the land was created, life was created and recorded history began."

"When this first happened, the world's men and women were cordial at worst." Koume explained. "They did not know of anything besides themselves and their survival. But then, one rose above the rest, seeking added control over the land and the people. Naturally, others opposed, and eventually, people began separating themselves in bands and tribes. These became the precursors to the towns and countries of old, including Hyrule."

"These rifts between men..." Kotake continued, "led to many wars, and countless lives were needlessly sacrificed. Eventually, though, one person took a stand, and brought along a resolution to this war, and an era of peace was ushered. This man became the first ruler of the unified land, the first King of Hyrule."

Koume then floated over to her red flame and, with a wave of her hand, made the flame extend wide and tall. Inside the flame, several images were shown of several men of different heights, sizes and hairstyles, all wearing the same golden crown over their heads. "And while the first King delivered peace to the land, others did nothing to remember his legacy, and acted according to their own wishes. You could say the first King did not plan for the future."

"The almighty fool." Kotake added with an airy laugh. "Hyrule has always been the chosen land, but with these heathen Kings taking the throne and forgetting their role in the play, they had made Hyrule fall out of favor with their deities."

"I'm sure you're aware of the tale of the Hero of Time, Princess?" Koume asked. Without waiting for an answer, though, she continued, as her red flame showed images of a warrior clad in green facing off a large man in black. "A young man who could travel through time disposed of the Great Evil King Ganondorf, sealing him forever, away from everybody. This was to have been the end of Ganondorf, but he was far too powerful to keep locked forever, so he broke through again. At that point, Hyrule had degenerated from their once glorious state and were on the brink of provoking another great war between the countries and races. When Ganondorf returned, he returned to a weakened and divided Hyrule, which was easy to conquer and decimate."

"Legends say of the people who pleaded to the deities to help them, to bring along a hero much like the fabled Hero of Time. But this time... it was not to be." Kotake said, showing images of the weakened Hyrule on her blue flame. "The Goddesses decided then to grant Ganondorf's wish and give him Hyrule, which they sealed under a thick blanket of water, deciding to save only a fraction of the people by bringing them to the mountaintops. This was the Great Flood, and the result was the Great Sea which people have sailed on for over a hundred years."

"This brings us to present day." Koume picked up where her sister left off. "Present time, where the Goddesses pretend to rebuild their majestic masterpiece, and they believe they had purged the land of the evil that it had, and everything will be as prosperous as they envisioned."

"And you, dear Princess..." Kotake pointed right at Tetra's face. "Are stuck right in the middle of it all. You have become an unsuspecting pawn to their game."

* * *

Link ran as fast as he could. He needed to, since a floating Wallmaster was following him, and for no light reason: Link had just collected a key he found laying on the ground. He should've known the whole thing looked way too easy for him, and now he was blindly running through a maze which raised from the ground, hoping not to encounter on a dead end and end up getting swallowed into the abyss again.

"Where's the exit? Where's the exit? Where's the exit? Where's the exit? Where's the exit? Where's the exit?" Link mumbled to himself as he ran with the key. He has so far made it without having to stop, but this only served in making him increasingly panicked about finding any eventual blockade. He then came into a three-way intersection, which made him stop for a small moment to choose his way. "Left or right? Or straight forward? Maaaaan... left!" He chose and ran through the opening, taking a few sharp turns, and almost crashed on a few walls... to find himself on a dead end.

"No, no! This isn't fair." Link whined. He turned around and rushed off on the opposite direction he was on, having surprisingly enough time to still avoid the Wallmaster. He waded through tight turns, and even managed to walk on the walls a bit, and ended up... facing another dead end.

"No way! I don't believe it!" Link shouted. He made to run back and go through the one remaining road, but unfortunately, the Wallmaster had caught up with him. The Wallmaster threw itself towards Link, but he instinctively rolled back and narrowly avoided the attack. Link prepared his sword and shield and waited for the Wallmaster to do another attack. The Wallmaster began walking across the floor towards Link and jumped to grab him, but Link stabbed the air with his sword, stopping the overly large hand cold and making it wince in pain. Link's heart was racing, but seeing as he had the upper hand for the first time, he built up enough confidence to step forward and slash the Wallmaster good.

Before long, the disembodied menace turned into a puff of dark smoke, which made Link wonder how was he so scared of something so simple in the first place. Then, the walls of the maze started receding into the floor, making Link's way through much easier to see. He immediately ran to the door and proceeded to go to the following room. Forget calming down, he had to reach the room where Tetra was.

* * *

"The road to perdition is built on good intentions." Koume declared. "The first King of Hyrule had the best of intentions to end the war, but instead found a way to segregate all races and enforce supremacy onto the Hylians. Some took this as providence, as they had necessity of the resources in their given lands. The Gorons, for example, need the rocks of the volcanic soil, so living next to a volcano was a blessing to them, and the disappeared race of fish-men called the Zora prided themselves in living at the source of the great River Hylia."

"But there was one race..." Kotake explained. "That did not receive such blessing. Forced to live in the scorching desert where water and food is scarce, and marked as thieves and killers by the reigning Hylians, they were the scourge of the land as far as the rest of the world was concerned. This group... were the Gerudo."

"The Gerudo?" Tetra wondered. "Your people?"

"That is correct, Princess. Our people... the oppressed ones, only to make the rest look better in comparison." Koume narrated, while the red flame showed images of what she was telling. "Under the rule of Augustus Normand Hyrule, the Gerudo suffered the worst possible time. He sent his best troops under the shade of night and killed all but a few male Gerudo, followed by a curse on the land where the female Gerudo could not bear male children but once every hundred years."

"Princess, I hope you understand where we are going with this." Kotake said. "A foolish and ignorant race can and will commit the same arrogant and terrible mistakes of the past. Time passes, stories are forgotten, and people become lost in their own folly. It may seem that even the Goddesses, everlasting and infinitely wise as they claim to be, are not immune to this, seeing as they wish to rebuild what was once a heathen civilization."

"You, my dear princess, who has seen what this world has to offer, and have been capable of sensing the hearts of the men and women in the world, you could answer me this." Koume inquired. "Do you believe this world is ready for another monarchy as the Goddesses have envisioned? Do you believe this new era they are trying to usher upon the land will be actually beneficial to all of them, and that they will accept it and live it without any sort of difference of contention? Can men truly learn and avoid repeating themselves, and can they avoid their own destruction once again?"

"These things you say..." Tetra uttered, being rather apprehensive of many things the witches have told her. "How do you know them? How can they be true? There are things you said that I've never heard from. How can you assure me they were true?"

"My dear Princess, do not become as ignorant as your predecessors." Kotake taunted as she floated about Tetra's proximity. "These things are true. We know because we have seen it. The creation is legend, and no man or woman in Hyrule dared contradict it, and the Great War was recorded into the history books, and I'd be surprised if it's not in the Ancient Book you've been restoring these past months. You should know of the Great Flood as you saw the destroyed Hyrule under the water. As for the rest? Well, since when would you consider a great heroic thing to assassinate half a race in the shade of night and curse the rest of them? Or why would an egotistical, despot ruler say that he or she was egotistical or despot?"

"Princess, these are the things that precede you." Koume pointed out. "These are the things that shaped your past, and can shape your future if you even do so much as to forget them. The Goddesses have apparently forgotten them, and they have started a strong initiative to restore Hyrule to their so-called former glory. But we have been wise and recorded everything that we have seen. We alone have been witness to what has been, what it is, and what will become should these events were truly to unfold. Make no mistake, child... this will come to pass."

"No... You're wrong." Tetra defended herself, though with not a lot of empowering strength to it. "I am not... I shall not let any of these things happen. Not as long as I... as I..."

"As long as you'll live?" Kotake questioned, staring down Tetra with all her might. "And how long will that be? Sixty years? Seventy? Two hundred? Regardless of resistance, you shall eventually die, and then who will take the helm of your kingdom? How will you know that they will follow on your footsteps?"

"Face it, princess." Koume said. "You have been thrown into something that is too big for you, and you will never completely gain control of this horrendous situation. Just as your past haunts you, so will your future. The Goddesses either don't remember this, or are relishing in your foolishness."

"You're speaking in circles!" Tetra snapped. She stomped one foot on the ground and pointed menacingly at the witches. "I see the whole bloody past thing already, but that's no reason for me to repeat it. In fact, seeing that you just told me means that I cannot make the same mistakes as my forefathers. So if you're just going to yap about all day, you might as well tell me just why would I want to relinquish everything right here and now. You're just trying to psyche me out of all this, but I've yet to listen to one solid reason to do so. And as for the Goddesses... Why are you questioning them?"

"So you'd defend them?" Koume responded, looking mildly surprised. "You were shoehorned into this task, and have suffered a great deal for it, and still you'd defend them?"

"And what would they do, anyway?" Kotake questioned in a mocking manner. "Will they rain death upon us heathens? Will they send a mighty energy wave against us? Come along, you deceitful deities! Don't delay and show yourselves to us! Give us your worst! Surprise us! I want to stare at our doom in the eye right before it strikes us! Now!"

They waited a moment. They looked all around the dark room for any sign of hostility, but nothing happened. Just as it was before Kotake had uttered her defiant words, there were only three people in the room, with no sign of another person or thing added in.

"Need we say anything else?"Kotake boasted. "The Goddesses play tricks with you and they are deaf to your pleas. But we know better, and took matters into our own hands. We have taken advantage of the situation and shifted things to our end. We scattered the seeds of doubt all over and set the stage so that you would find them."

"What are you...?" Tetra was to ask, but she suddenly understood what the hag was telling her. "You don't mean... the pages?"

"For a hundred years, we watched over the remnants of the Royal family that had mysteriously survived the Great Flood." Koume narrated. "Until the time was right for the plan to be enacted. We needed the Ancient Book, and we needed someone foolish enough to deliver it to us. Needless to say, at one point you would've been capable of seeing the Book in all its glory."

"What... wait... Mom?" Tetra whispered. Her eyes started to widen as she started to understand the full scope of it all.

"You seem to understand this." Kotake said, while the blue flames showed images of Madam Jacques and the witches in another time. "And to think that the previous princess was willing to part with such a precious family heirloom so easily at the slightest hint of danger. Not towards her, by the way. No, we knew she was too stubborn to give up something for her own life. Now how was the phrase like... 'Over my own dead body' I think is how it went. No... she protected someone else... someone very near and dear to her."

"If only she knew what we truly were going for." Koume said mockingly. "There wasn't any real danger to anybody else's life, so her efforts, and may I add, her untimely death, were all for naught."

"Don't you dare talk about my mother that way." Tetra retorted in between clenched teeth. "She was a better person that what you two could ever hope to be, regardless on how old you are. She was loving and caring and... she never pulled anything nasty, unlike you. I can read you now. You hide behind confusing words and dubious history, only to hide your nature. You are nothing more than thieves and murderers."

"Murderers? Us?" Kotake questioned, sounding indignant at that. "Are you talking about your mother, the previous princess? Why we never laid a hand on her. We only gave her a rather hearty cup of liquor, didn't we, Koume? She didn't want to bother us, but we insisted, of course. We strive to be good guests, you know. Of course, what happened next was rather... strange. Do you remember, Koume?"

"Yes, I do, Kotake." Koume responded. "After all, I was the one who had to clean up the blood she coughed up on our entrance. Methinks she's never had something so... strong." Koune tried hard, but she barely managed to stifle her mocking laughter. "Maybe it was like... poison... to her."

"Maybe the drink didn't... mix... with her system?" Kotake stated. This was met by a silent stare from her sister, who simply shook her head in disappointment. "Regardless, five years ago, we held the Ancient Book in our hands. Knowing what the Goddesses were so foolishly going to do, we decided to take matters into our own hands. We studied the Book and signaled the most essential things from within it, and then..." Kotake's blue flame lit up tremendously, showing a great deal of pieces of paper falling around. "We tore it apart."

"These pages would prove to be essential to your development, Princess..." Koume continued, "but without real life experience, you would most likely not mature your abilities near enough for us to be satisfied. So we carefully chose hiding places for the pages, where one would need to go through many trials and face many an enemy just to claim them." Koume's red flame lit up and showed images of places Tetra and her crew had gone recently, like the Abandoned Castle and the inside of the Dark Tree. Also, it showed several people along the way, like Dante and one of the Garo. "Some, we entrusted to others, who would either blindly help us in exchange for some petty favors or end up being little more than a footnote on the end line."

"And then, the final preparatory steps." Kotake picked up the narration, and showed through her blue flame a picture of a cave room with a sandy floor and scattered dunes. "We hid the Book itself, knowing it was to be the trigger for the Goddesses to start their plans, which would let them inadvertently start our plans. Of course, that alone would not be enough, for which treasure would be found without a map?"

"You know, Princess..." Koume said. "I am rather surprised you sill don't recognize me. Then again, I was covered in rags the last time we saw each other. Or do you not remember? It was only a few months ago."

Tetra tried to think back, to before the whole thing had started, to before she had found the Ancient Hyrulian Book. She then suddenly remembered they had made a brief stop at Frelon to stock up when she found a rather strange tent...

_FLASHBACK_

"Hello?"

"Miss Tetra, I don't think we'll find anything here."

"Don't be silly, Gonzo. This gang's been starving for some honest-to-goodness adventuring, and it's in places like this where it all starts. Now then... hello in here."

"Welcome, strangers." An elderly woman's voice greeted the group entering the dark and mysterious tent. Out of the darkness, a short, old woman draped in many exotic robes emerged. She was covered so much, that the only thing they could see of her was her long, pointy nose. "You seem to be the ones who like to seek adventure and great rewards, no? And you, young lady." She then extended her wrinkly hand and pointed straight at Tetra. "You have an air of destiny about you. If you're willing..."

"Don't talk to me about any destiny of any sort." Tetra remarked and stared at the old lady coldly. "Now what do you have in here that's any good?"

"Very well... If it's adventure you seek, I have something I found not too long ago." The old lady then reached inside a nearby crate and pulled out a small chart, which she laid on the floor in front of her. "This is a chart to an island filled with riches, but it's hidden deep beneath a series of caves and perils. Do you wish to take this task?"

"Miss Tetra, I don't think..."

"Do I ever?" Tetra exclaimed excitedly whilst grabbing the map right from the floor. "How much do I owe you, old lady?"

"Oh, don't worry, young lass." The old lady shook her hands when Tetra reached to pay her. "First one's on the house. When you find this treasure, you can come back and thank me later." She then bowed to her guests and, as mysteriously as she had appeared, she dissolved into the darkness on the back of the tent.

_FLASHBACK END_

"I can't beli... That was you?" Tetra asked, still trying to get past her astonishment over the situation. "You gave me that map. You set me into that quest, which triggered this whole journey, which is why I am now standing here in this dress in front of you... It's all because you started all this? Why? What's the end goal? What do you hope to accomplish by having me fetch these papers you once had and then try to read and understand them?"

"Think back on what you have learned these past months, princess." Kotake interjected. "Do you seriously believe that all that you know now, and everything you've experienced for all this time, that you would have known this if it was all handed down to you? It would've been easier for you, yes, but at the same time, you would have not been able to get the proper life experience, nor would you be capable of evolving your abilities to where they are now."

"And where they are now is where we want them to be." Koume continued. "Your abilities are the centerpiece of our plans. Without them, all we have done would have been for naught. We need what you possess, princess."

"Specifically, we seek the mystical Light Force." Kotake explained. "The one Royal Family Heirloom that cannot be gathered, grasped, or even found under normal circumstances. The Light Force is passed along from generation to generation by the women of the Royal Family. Your mother had it, and when you were born, it was automatically transferred to you. But you were too immature to even use it, much less tap into its source safely, so that is why we set everything up like it was done."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Tetra stopped the witches for a moment. "How do you know this. The Book had stuff about the Light Force, but I never read anything about how I turned out to have... wait..." She suddenly remembered there was one possibility in which such event was indeed possible. "I never did find that last page on the book. That info has got to be in there... if only I had it sooner."

"And do you think we'd let you find such critical information so soon?" Koume questioned. She then extended her left arm, and from her hand produced a yellowed piece of paper torn from a side, then from her right hand, she produced the Ancient Book of Hylian History.

"B... b... b... How did you get that?" Tetra asked bewildered while pointing directly at the book. "I though that had sinked with the rest of the ship?"

"We've told you already." Koume reiterated. "We knew what you and your underlings were going to do, as well as that fool Dante. We knew the book was to be lost, and we could not allow that, so we managed to sneak into your little ship and find it. Blasted compass was shielding it, and the Goddesses had enchanted it with a most nasty burning curse on it..."

"It must've been Din." Kotake interrupted.

"But that did not deter us." Koume continued. "And that's why the book is here, complete again, and you did spectacularly in your job to recover it and claim control over the Light Force... all for us!"

* * *

Link had been forced to walk on all fours. He wasn't receiving any significant hits, but the ground he was forced to walk on was less than ideal. Then again, nobody in their sane mind would consider a bunch of tall, thin pillars spaced randomly above an endless pit 'ideal walking conditions'. Worse than that, Link was facing an enemy that, under any other circumstances, it would've been exceedingly easy. It was a gigantic one-eyed black widow spider known better as:

**Queen Gohma**

Queen Gohma was adept at walking the treacherous floor, and all eight of its feet hogged a pillar each, effectively locking Link off at least a quarter of the room's length. Worse of all, he knew he could've used his arrows to make short work of the gigantic spider, but he had lost all of them, which crumbled his defense options. All he had was his sword, his shield, and a handful of Deku Nuts, and he wasn't just about to make much of a difference with those.

"Could I have worse luck?" Link muttered to himself moments before Gohma lunged at him and almost bit him in the arm. "This thing has teeth? How?" Despite that last surprise, Link did not stick in one place and hopped like he were some wolf out of the spider's reach and tried to get behind it to try and find a weak spot. No matter how much he tried, though, Gohma was adept at climbing up walls and backing away as soon as it sensed danger.

"If only I could just... Oof!" Link suddenly tripped. He desperately stretched his hands and gripped onto any piece of solid ground he could find as to not fall down the pit below. There, he could hear Gohma shifting about as if poised to take advantage of Link's current situation. In a desperate manouver, Link instinctively reached into his half-empty bag and turned around to face the giant spider head on. Unfortunately, it was closer than he wanted it to be. Gohma opened its spider mouth, lunged at Link... and got a taste of the blinding Deku Nut.

Link was breathing hard, but he could clearly see he was still alive. Even better, he could see Gohma completely frozen in place, its big mouth wide open and its large single eye unblinking. Link knew better than to waste time on this, so he wailed on what he saw was the monster's biggest weak point: its eye. When Gohma was finally able to move again, it was completely blinded and unaware of where its opponent was. This gave Link plenty of room to maneuver around the spider, despite its desperate thrashing about. Link wisely moved around the spider's legs as it ran around wildly and decided to try and take those nuisances off first. He deliberately made some noise on a wall to catch Gohma's attention, and the monster charged towards the source of the noise, crashing spectacularly at the wall. This allowed Link to cut one leg clean off before it writhed in pain and staggered back.

Gohma managed to stand up again, but had problems keeping its balance, which meant that Link was gunning for the other legs in the same side. In two quick passes, Link had reduced the number of legs from eight to five, making the poor monster stumble and reducing it to a crawl. Seeing how the tables were turned so, Link decided to end Gohma's suffering and end it once and for all, doing one mighty swing to lop off the spider's head. Both body and dismembered head shook a bit before stopping entirely, and before dying off, Gohma's head spit out a key, and not just any key, it was the key he needed to open the locked door in the main room.

"Yes! That's the second one. Hold on, Tetra, I'm coming."

* * *

"The Light Force. A great and mystical power dating back to the first big era of Hyrule." Koume detailed. "Unlike the ancient relic, the Triforce, the Light Force has no physical shape. Furthermore, it was not given from the deities, but rather it was a gift to the Royal Family by a legendary race long since forgotten by time. This gift was given directly to the current first-born princess of the kingdom at the time, and since then, the first-born princess automatically inherits the Light Force at birth. Since then, the bearer of the Light Force had been invariably the one to rule all of Hyrule, an act seen favorably by the Goddesses."

"Truly a foolish move on their part." Kotake continued, relishing on every tiny detail. Her blue flame lit up again, showing once more images of previous rulers of Hyrule. "This one act brought along the many stupid acts of many egotistical rulers through many generations. Even the King had no say in who was to be the next ruler, save for hoping the man that married his first-born daughter was halfway decent. But the deed was done, and the fate of Hyrule was decided."

"And now you, Princess." Koume addressed her guest directly, hovering closer to her face. "You are young, you are naïve, you are incapable of predicting the future. How, pray tell, would you possibly expect to be sure that this new Hyrule the Goddesses wish to create will hold for 100 years? How do you even expect to keep the kingdom from collapsing in your reign?"

"Uh... I..." Tetra was caught off-guard, and she was too clearly incapable of forming words. "I'll... I'll think of something. I can always try some new ideas... I'm no stranger to leadership, either. I can..."

"No, Princess." Kotake interrupted. "Leading 10 pirates on a ship surrounded by water is not the same as ruling over tens of thousands over a large landmass. With tens of thousands of people of different ages, races and opinions, fights and civil wars are bound to break out. The unnecessary spilling of blood will occur every day, children will become orphans and parents will have to bury their offspring, all because of senseless causes. When these things come to pass, how would you lead them?"

"People from different lands will inevitably arrive to the doorsteps of the castle." Koume said. "Those who do not bring an offering of peace are bound to find reason to despise you and will bring along their hatred and spite in the form of great attacks to your kingdom. Even though diplomacy is the first choice, they dare not accept it, preferring the art of war to the art of peaceful negotiations. Were you confronted with that right now, what would you do?"

"Man's nature is one of violence, vanity, hunger of power and forgetfulness." Kotake said. "They will seek to be greater than their lot allows them, and in their search, they have destroyed themselves and their civilizations time and time again. Instead of learning from past mistakes, men have foolishly forgotten that which destroyed their forefathers and repeat their mistakes. Current events dictate that the future will not be much different, and before the new Hyrule is formerly founded, it shall already be on its path to destruction. By the time you take up the throne, it may be already too late. If you had the opportunity, how would you act?"

Tetra was completely speechless and ashen-faced just thinking of all the possible horrors that could happen from any sort of trigger. Her mind raced back and forth through all the possible outcomes of all the possible situations that she could possibly imagine, and she could barely make a comprehensible thought. Of all this, one thing popped on her mind clear as day: 'There's a solution to it all. There must be.' And then, as if her thoughts could be heard, she was presented with the Ancient Hyrulian Book once more, as well as the final missing page.

"You have a choice, Princess." Koume explained, in a lower-than-usual tone of voice. "This page we deemed too dangerous for you to have early, but now it is time. This explains how to transfer the Light Force to a close relative should you be incapable of bearing children. We researched the paper, and we have determined that it does not need to be a blood relative nor anybody from the Royal Family to transfer the power to." Koume then stared right down at Tetra, seemingly without blinking an eye, and spoke in her most inviting tone yet. "Your choice, Princess, is either to embrace your own destruction if you follow on the path the Goddesses have set you, or to relinquish that which links you to the burden of this kingdom. Read the page. Give us the Light Force."

"Any one of us will do." Kotake interjected. "Relieve yourself of your burden. Give it to us."

"Trust us." Koume said. "We have foreseen what will become of the future. We alone will be able to put order to the world."

"All we need is your help this one time." Kotake pressed on.

"The Light Force. Give it to us."

"Forget about everything that's happened."

"Forget this insipid quest."

"Return to your life. Return to what you are."

"Let's end this game right now, while you can still win."

Tetra could hardly think clearly with the two witches speaking in her ear constantly. She decided to take a good look at the page she was given and see what was it she was being asked to do. So this was it: the remaining missing page of the book. Indeed, it explained mostly about the passing of the Princess' mystical powers to someone else in a way other than birthright, and mentions of that someone else to be a relative were treated as nothing more than a mere suggestion. After all that's happened, after these months of grueling tests and tribulations... this was the only time she had ever felt like she could truly escape it all, that she could somehow become as free as she wished before. Would she believe the words that Koume and Kotake have told her?

"Well, if that isn't the biggest load of crap I've ever heard!"

The concentration between Koume, Kotake and Tetra all but vanished. The blond one turned around to see what the witches were staring at in awe. Among the darkness, a shining glow of green emanated and drew closer to the red and blue flames in the middle of the cave. The green glow shaped up and took the form... of an arm, an arm holding a large shield, and attached to an equally green body. A young man, blond-haired and clad in green, wielding a sword and a shield, emerged into the room, looking directly at the three people in its midst.

"Link?" Tetra whispered.

"Told ya I'd find you." Link replied to Tetra. He then shifted his gaze towards the witches surrounding her. "These things... they're witches, right? Sorcerers. What are you doing paying attention to them?"

"Th... they... They said I wasn't... I can't think clearly." Tetra managed to say, shaking her head in frustration. "I just think... maybe I'm not cut out for this whole 'ruling a kingdom' thing. Maybe I can't do this after all."

"So what are you saying?" Link questioned, a serious look forming in his face as he went on. "That you'd much rather forget this whole thing happened? You'd rather take the easy way out, and forget why did your crew did what they did? Would you rather forget... me?" Tetra's eyes opened wide at the simple truth Link was saying. "I don't know what these witches were telling you, but..."

"We have names, you know." Kotake interrupted, annoyed by the sudden intrusion, but also curious of Link's arrival. "How did you manage to survive our traps, anyway?"

"Never underestimate the willpower of a guy in green on a mission!" Link declared. "There was nothing in there that I wasn't able to handle."

"So you solved the Infinite Maze?" Koume wondered.

"Of course!" Link answered.

"And you defeated Gohma?" Kotake questioned.

"That spider thing? As good as dead." Link said, satisfied.

"And even the Room of a Thousand Redeads?" Koume asked, incredulous.

Link's face whitened. He gulped down hard and darted his eyes constantly. "Yes." He answered nervously. "Now let's just never speak of it again." He then shuddered at having to remember that event again. The witches even shuddered at the mere thought of so many redeads in one room.

"Regardless!" Kotake exploded in a loud, echoing voice. "Your arrival here is inconsequential. You shan't stop us now." She then hovered to Tetra's side and lowered her voice. "Now, Princess. You know what you have to do. Just give us the Light Force."

"Tetra..." Link implored. "Think for a second. Why is it you have those powers, that Light Force? In a way... weren't they a gift from your mother? Would you rather forget that, too?"

Tetra lowered her head, facing the floor for a moment. Link and the witches watched intently at her every movement, waiting in bated breath for her decision. No matter what they could say now, in the end the choice was hers and hers alone.

"Link?" Tetra called softly. Link took a few steps closer to listen to Tetra clearly. "The two witches in front of us... they have a name. They are Koume and Kotake." Link's expression dropped, while the witches' faces did not even try to hide their gleeful smile. Link tried to appeal to Tetra, but she raised her hand before he could say a word. "I say this because I want you to know..." She then lowered her hand and reached for cutlass that was almost completely hidden by the darkness, which she unsheathed in one quick, smooth motion and pointed it straight at her hosts. "... the names of the vile people who killed my mother!"

Now Link was astonished. He could see those witches were evil a mile away, but learning that they were no strangers to killing was another matter altogether. And not just that, having killed someone near and dear to Tetra and being so far unashamed in front of her was something he couldn't truly understand. As surprised as he was, however, the witches were even moreso. In that one act, they could see their whole plans, which they have worked hard all these years to accomplish, crumbling down to the ground. Considering all they had claimed to see ahead, they didn't take into account a complete negative from her. What they really didn't foresee, though, was that Link could manage to be there to sway her away from them.

"Is that really your last answer, Princess?" Koume asked.

"The blood of many will be in your hands." Kotake warned her.

"The blood of my mother is in _your_ hands!" Tetra shouted, finally showing her strength in front of the witches. "Do you feel no remorse? Then why should I believe you'd feel remorse for other lives? What is this better world you envision, if you cannot care for anybody in this world? Why should I believe your rule will be better than mine? I shall not give you anything except a taste of cold, sharp steel."

"You..." Koume said, feeling insulted at this sudden barrage of words. "Just who do you think you are?"

Tetra stared down both Koume and Kotake with a reborn furious gaze as she grabbed the hilt of her cutlass tightly. She knew, clear as day, who and what she was, what she wanted, what she was doing, and (what could be the first time in a long time) what her decision would take her. "I am Princess Zelda Tetrilynn Hyrule. You killed my mother. Prepare to die."

The witches sighed in unison. They had hoped this had not happened, but fortunately for them, they did not go this far into their plans without having a plan B. Unfortunately for them, it involved a lot more physical activity, which their old bodies were not completely up for it. Still, being so close to their goal, they were not just about to leave everything to rot.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, Princess." Kotake lamented.

"I guess we have no choice, Kotake." Koume said. Then, she summoned her powers and, as her red flame on the pillar lit up brightly, her gray hair exploded in flames. "I shall burn some sense into these insolent children!"

Then, Kotake summoned her powers as well, and as her blue flame shot to the room's high ceiling, her gray hair became encased in ice of coldest winter. "And I shall frost our reasoning onto them!"

Suddenly, red and blue flames started lighting up all over the walls of the room, showing the true dimensions of the grand room. Once it was lighted up, the room resembled some sort of glorified sacrificial chamber, and the pair of Link and Tetra were standing smack-dab in the middle of the sacrificial circle. Link approached Tetra and readied his sword and shield, as they were just about to fight:

Sorceress Sisters

**Koume & Kotake**

Koume and Kotake decided to split and stay as far away from each other as possible and fly high in the air to try and tackle both their opponents in the best way. Koume attacked first, charging a powerful fire attack and throwing it at Link, forcing the green-clad hero to raise his shield to avoid it. While he successfully avoided serious injury, the blast heated up his shield to downright unbearable levels, making him shake off the shield right to the ground. Kotake took this cue and surrounded herself with an icy blast, and threw herself like a shooting star at Tetra. Kotake picked up velocity as she braced herself to strike the princess head-on.

And then, her long sleeve got tangled in Tetra's cutlass.

Kotake suddenly stopped her attack, and began tugging at her sleeve to try and break free. Tetra, on her hand, noticed how her opponent had become trapped in her outstretched blade, and decided to take advantage of it, swinging her like she were an oversized morning star before throwing her hard into the ground. Kotake tried to get back up from the slam attack, but she had become incapacitated.

Koume had witnessed all this and had become furious for the attack on her sister. So furious, in fact, that she swooped down and flew low to approach and try to defend her. Link took this opportunity and grabbed his still hot shield with his right gloved hand and threw it like a frisbee, conking Koume in the head and making her crash and twist around on the floor before ending up lying still right next to Kotake.

"That's... it?" Tetra wondered, seeing the two witches immobile on the ground. "You guys talked some scary things, but in the end, you couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag."

"This is pathetic, Koume." Kotake wheezed in labored breaths.

"Where did we go wrong, Kotake?" Koume asked, crawling slowly to get closer to her sister.

"It's time." Tetra announced as she approached the witches, blade in hand. Her face featured an indescribable expression that emanated pure, unbridled spite towards the frail old women laying on the floor. "Any last words?"

"Y... yes." Koume answered. Then, she reached her hand to hold Kotake's hand, and a sudden surge of energy was expelled from the two witches. This surprised Tetra greatly and gave her no time to react before the energy surge threw her back and made her land on her back. When she and Link looked at the source of the energy, both Koume and Kotake were floating in the sky without the help of their brooms. Their eyes were closed and their limbs were limp and unmoving, but still they did not show definitive signs of defeat.

"We have several words to say." Kotake said. Suddenly, both the sisters opened their eyes and extended their arms up high as the energy enveloped both of them slowly but completely.

"_**KOUME AND KOTAKE'S DOUBLE DYNAMITE ATTACK!**_"

The light of the energy surrounding Koume and Kotake flooded the large room, temporarily blinding Link and Tetra. When the light dispersed, Koume and Kotake were nowhere to be seen. Instead there was an incredibly large woman of green skin, whose hair was divided in two parts, one of fire and one of ice, wearing a skimpy black and golden top and white pants with red and blue lines and holding the witches' brooms as if they were wands. She leered at Link and Tetra with an outright sadistic gaze, almost like she was enjoying the possibility of what she could do on them. This was it. Link and Tetra were facing the true form of the mastermind behind the whole events of these past months. They were dreadfully under-prepared and both physically and emotionally spent, but they could not stop now. They had to find strength where there wasn't, or they knew they wouldn't stand a chance against:

Mastermind Sorceress

**Twinrova**

"Last chance, Princess." Twinrova spoke to Tetra. Her voice was youthful, but strangely duplicated in a lower or higher tone about half a second in delay after the original voice spoke. "Relinquish the Light Force and give it to us. We promise everything shall be as it was before you encountered the book. You will continue sailing the seas, and everybody that was with you will be there again. You need not forget it all, only that which made you pursue this quest. Choose now, for this offer will be made only once."

"Who do you think you're kidding?" Link said defiantly. "Tetra has already chosen. Right, Te... Tetra?" When Link looked at Tetra, he was surprised she was actually thinking about what Twinrova had just told her. "You're not seriously considering what that... thing has told you, right? Right? "

Tetra did not answer him. Instead, she remained in deep reflexion. What did she really want? What would her decision affect? Was there a right choice? In the end, she took a step forward and faced Twinrova, and spoke with a clear, determined, voice.

"My final decision is..."

**To Be Continued**


	18. The Miracle

REVIEW ANSWERIN' time! For when you have nothing witty to say!

u00frady: You... What? You actually liked it? I'm... honored. I was scared of that chapter like you wouldn't believe, considering how much exposition it brought (vs. action). And how can you not see Twinrova? I foreshadowed her, months ago! Oh, well, I guess it still works out in the end. And surprise, surprise, I applied myself and updated as soon as I could. Now, about that story, feel free to send me anything through my e-mail. If you want, I'll post it and give you credit. Later, Pyles.

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

Chapter 18:

The Miracle

"Just great." Tetra muttered. "If those slowpokes would be here now, the odds wouldn't be so against us right now."

Link and Tetra readied their wits and their weapons to battle the Giant Mole in front of them. The Mole, even with its nearsighted eyes, looked straight at Tetra, startling her. It then burrowed into the ground and rushed straight at her, giving Tetra no other option but to run away. Then, Tetra had an idea and recovered her shovel. "Link, prepare your sword! I'll drive him out, you nail him!"

When the Mole was close enough, Tetra slammed her shovel as deep into the ground as she could muster. The solid-iron shovel somehow stopped the Mole cold. This was the opportunity she wanted, so she threw her body weight on to the shovel and managed to get the Mole out of the ground. Link moved in and lashed out at the turned over Mole, but it quickly rolled over, crushing Link into the sand and regaining movement. It promptly burrowed back into the sand, leaving the pair back on the defensive.

"Link! Are you alright?" Tetra asked as she was pulling him out of the sand.

"Ezzy squizzy lemon plizzy." Link answered woozily, smiling to signal he was ok.

"He's fast. I'll give him that." Tetra commented while trying to catch her breath. "There's got to be a way to get him to show his ugly mug." She put her hand into her pocket, and stumbled with a small object. "Wait..." Tetra waved at Link, not wanting to make any unnecessary noise that would attract the Mole just yet.

Suddenly, the Mole heard this strange surge of sound, and it burrowed straight its source and decided to leap to surprise whoever it was. The Mole was tricked by Tetra, however, who had blown up a bomb near the wall, making it slam itself onto the structure and slip out of consciousness. Link then rushed right to the Mole and gave it no chance.

Before dying, the Giant Mole spit out two items. The pair inspected the items, one of them was a Heart Container that broke in half, and another was a small key. "I'll keep this, just in case." Tetra said as she stowed the key away. "Now, then... where's that treasure?"

Right then, the door that was slammed shut when they entered got blown away by the pirates trying to get inside. "Miss Tetra!" Gonzo shouted. "Are you in here! Are you alright!"

"Idiots!" Tetra immediately yelled at them. "What if I were right in front of that door when you blew it up? What would you do then?" The pirates looked rather down when they were scolded. Tetra's face changed quickly, however. "Well, what can I really do with you guys anyway? And now that you're here, you could start digging for the treasure now."

Thus, every able-bodied man in the group grabbed a shovel and dug away at the unnaturally high dune in the corner. It didn't take long before they reached something solid. "Miss Tetra! I think this is it!" Gonzo shouted at their leader overseeing the work.

"Really? Let me see!" Tetra demanded, pushing her underlings aside and taking a good look at the exquisitely designed treasure chest in front of her. "Quickly! Pull it above ground!"

The pirates tugged at the chest's massive handles, trying to move it to a more manageable place. "Whatever this chest has," Senza started, "It better be good to weight so much."

"Locked." Nudge commented after inspecting the chest. "Why did it have to be locked? Why couldn't they be like good pirates and just let the sand be the only lock it needs? Man, I hate unlocking these types of locks."

"What's so bad about these locks?" Senza asked.

"Well," Nudge started "These are special triple-secure locks. If you don't unlock them _just_ the right way, more locks will activate and a special quick-rusting liquid will break out, making opening the chest near impossible."

They got the treasure, Tetra thought to herself, but now what? What was the treasure they got? Money? Gold? Title deeds? Some weird other thing? It seems they won't be knowing anytime soon. Not without the key. Not without... the...

The...

Th...

This..._ This is where it started._

"Hey, wait!" Tetra shouted, interrupting the pirates' conversation. "Maybe this is the key."

"So, Senza?" Gonzo asked, after working hard to open the rusty chest with the rest. "Is the prize good enough to warrant the weight?"

"Oh, yeah!" Senza added, with a large smile and shining eyes that could rival the treasure's shine.

"Perfect." Tetra said, witnessing the bounty of rupees, gold, diamonds, gems and other things they unearthed. "This is more than enough to get the ship fixed." She took a handful of treasure and looked at it closer to appreciate its beauty. "Oh, ho, ho! It's times like these when I _really_ feel alive!"

_It was perfect. Life was good. I felt truly alive then._

_And then..._

"Hey, what's this?" Nudge looked at something rather interesting stowed in the side of the chest, and pulled it out. "Hmm... It's a book."

Tetra promptly kicked Nudge in the leg, making him drop the book. "It's nothing, that's what it is."

_If it truly were nothing... nothing that happened after that would've happened._

_If I choose chance..._

Before Tetra left the room herself, though, she stumbled upon the book that Nudge was looking at. Tetra picked up the book, dusting it off, and looked at the cover. What she saw intrigued her. On the cover there was an image of a large, heart-shaped face adorned with many intricate designs with spikes protruding from the sides, and two big, empty eyes on the center. Tetra had no idea what this book could be about, and was about to drop it on the ground again before an idea slipped into her mind.

"Maybe... maybe this can fetch a pretty penny from a serious collector." Tetra pondered. Stuffing the book under her arm, she ran out of the room to catch up with the crew.

_This would be my future._

That night, Tetra made sure the treasure chest was well-secured inside her own room, and after checking twice that everything was as it should be, she went to sleep. And she slept like a log until the next morning.

The next morning, Tetra walked up to the upper deck in the best of moods. She greeted her crew and reminded them of the bounty splitting that was to happen in her quarters soon. But first, she walked to the ship's bowsprit, which was quickly becoming her favorite spot in the entire ship. She stood up and let the wind run through every fiber of her body. The smell of freedom was intoxicating, and the sense of knowing she could do whatever she pleased provided enough for her to draw a mighty grin on her face.

_Everything would be back. The guys... the ship...Link would be there, too. And nothing to bother us._

_But then... where would that take us? What would happen to us? How would it all work out? Would Link..._

_

* * *

_

"Tetra?" Link looked at Tetra, and he was surprised she was actually thinking about what Twinrova had just told her. "You're not seriously considering what that... thing has told you, right? Right?"

Tetra did not answer him, choosing instead to keep her thoughts to herself. Twinrova looked at this, and she was overjoyed that the doubt in Tetra's mind still lingered. The plans that were set after so many years did not seem to have turned to dust, after all. In the end, Tetra took a step forward and faced Twinrova, and spoke with a clear, determined voice.

"My final decision is..." Tetra took a moment to understand the full implications of what she was about to say. Link and Twinrova waited intently, hanging onto Tetra's every word and hoping she would say what they each hoped she would say. Finally, Tetra reacted and spoke only one word:

"... unchanged."

"What?" Link asked, not fully understanding what Tetra meant.

"WHAT?" Twinrova questioned, her dual voice echoing in the room, as she knew precisely what this meant.

"It's exactly what you think it is." Tetra said to Twinrova. "To put it simply, I don't make deals with malicious, monstrous murderers. No matter what you do, and no matter how you sweeten the deal, I am not going to give in, because when I think about it, everything that had just happened was all your fault. Having to go through all those trials, coming close to losing my mind several times, losing many people I deeply care about... it was all you. You twist and deform lives for your own personal profit and pleasure, but no more. No more relenting over you, no more weakness, no more excuses or feeling sorry for myself. I will fight you, and I will bring you to justice!"

Link pumped a fist up in a silent cheer after listening to Tetra's speech. He then picked up his shield and, sword in hand, stepped back to Tetra's side, signaling her to know she had his complete trust and help.

"We're disappointed in you, Princess." Twinrova spoke in a mock-dejected form. "We thought that you would learn from the mistakes of the past, and you would know what was best for everybody. We thought you would understand what would happen in the future, which will undeniably happen, and seek the better solution. Instead, you choose destruction. Why must you people always be like this?"

"Maybe that's just how we are." Link said, stepping in front of Tetra. "Maybe we're just some foolish kids on some impossible quest. Maybe we go the long way around when doing the things we have to do. Maybe we don't completely know what we're getting into before do get into it. Maybe we're too stubborn for our own good. However, when it comes down to it, we show the best of ourselves where it really matters. I've seen this girl go through some tough times these past two years, and she's always come out on top. What should make me think this time will be different? Doom? Destruction? You don't know us very well, do you? We've lived through doom and destruction before, and we can do it again. Now, I believe that Tetra had already told you her decision... so bug off."

Link stood in place, feeling good with himself after delivering those improvised but well-meant words. He was even more confident seeing Twinrova looking surprised and even slightly offended from it all. He felt that if this was going their way so smoothly now, this fight was going to be as laughably easy as the last.

And then, Twinrova flicked a broom around.

Suddenly, the floor under Link's feet turned to water, plunging him into a deep indoor pool. While he was struggling to swim, Twinrova pointed the Ice broom towards Link, turning the water to ice and freezing Link in the process. And then Twinrova used the Fire broom at Link, melting the ice and boiling the water to unbearable levels, burning Link right out of the water in such a way that he could not stop running and shaking his body to try and subdue his pain.

"Well, that much is true." Twinrova said matter-of-factly. "You're too stubborn for your own good. You're way in over your head, kid. You have nothing to do here, so we suggest you stand back if you want to leave with your life."

At that point, Tetra caught Link while he was running wildly and knocked him on his back to try and slow him down. "Wait, wait, Link! Calm down! Hold on for a sec." She then put her open palm on Link's forehead and then a soft white glow emerged from it. After a few seconds, Link's redness and pain had subsided, and he was finally able to breath calmly again.

"How... how did you do that?" Link asked.

"I... just followed my instincts. Something told me I could do this, so I did." Tetra explained in the best way she could.

"Well, so you're a healer now." Link commented. He then opened his eyes and stared at Tetra with a slightly worried look. "Don't get yourself killed now, you hear?"

"We tire of this." Twinrova said in her dual voice, yawning at the exchange in front of her. "Well, Princess... if you desire to be as uncooperative as you claim to be, then we have no other choice. We have need of the Light Force, and you shall give it to us... whether you like it or not."

Suddenly, Twinrova extended her icy broom and threw an ice blast towards Tetra at high velocity. Tetra was shocked, but not so much at to be useless and hopped backwards just in time to avoid being frozen by the blast. The ice attack, however, formed icicles in the ground where it hit, which made the area highly hazardous to be in. Then, Twinrova swung her fiery broom, and a bright-red ray was emitted from it, heading right at Tetra's new location. Once again, Tetra managed to evade, but only to witness the ray turning all of the floor it touched into a pool of lava, which occasionally burst out a few fire jets up to the ceiling. All this, on top of the icicles and the boiling water.

"If we let her keep this up, we'll have no place to walk on." Link exclaimed, noticing how, unlike them, Twinrova did not need to stand on the ground at all so long as she could remain floating in the air. "I say no more talk. Come on, Tetra. It's time to get up close and personal on that witch."

Amidst the new terrain hazards, Link and Tetra rushed in unison toward the imposing figure of Twinrova. Once she was close enough, Tetra stopped and summoned some of her powers to create a energy shield that blocked Twinrova, while waiting for Link. After Link managed to get a running start, Tetra used her hands as a stepping stone and shot him up as far as her strength allowed. As Link flew straight towards Twinrova, the large witch used a broom as a makeshift club to stop him, but Tetra was fast enough to shift her shield's force against the witch, striking her and giving Link just enough time to land squarely on one of the witch's shoulders and unleashing his crude attack on her face. When he saw danger coming, though, he flipped backwards to the ground and watched from there as Twinrova turned her back to them for a moment and covered the damaged side of her face.

"Nice." Tetra commended, witnessing Link's handiwork. "Now it's my turn."

Tetra quickly ran forward, cutlass in hand and ready to continue the offensive. Suddenly, Twinrova turned around again, showing a relatively unharmed face and a positively vicious stare, complete with a slasher-type smile. This startled Tetra just long enough for Twinrova to unleash a dangerous mixed Freezeflame blast at her. Tetra did not move, but Link managed to jump just in time and sweep Tetra off the blast radius.

"What the...?" Link asked incredulously. "You can... regenerate?"

"Your precious Princess is not the only one with healing powers, kid." Twinrova explained. "Or how else do you suppose we managed to live all this time?"

"Watching your carbs?" Link asked. This was met by a sharp elbowing from a scowling Tetra.

"Take this seriously! Don't you realize what this means?" Tetra reprimanded. "This battle just turned a corner into frickin' impossible territory."

"Hmm... Impossible? I don't think so." Link said calmly. This was met by a silent, unbelieving stare from Tetra. "Wait, listen. I got this all figured out. It's all in the brooms. See, when we fought the two witches separately, they had powers and were all floaty so long as they were on their brooms, but as soon as they ate dirt, they were helpless. Now most of big ugly's magic has been through the brooms, so we wrangle those out of her hands, and we're facing a worthless foe with minimal magic, even for healing. So what do you think?"

Tetra kept staring at him as though she could not believe what she was hearing. "Honestly? I think it's suicide." She responded flatly. "But I don't see much other options, so... we might as well."

So once again, the pair charged towards Twinrova, zigzagging the quick flame blasts the witch sent to them, and aiming for one of her arms. Once they were close enough, Link stood in front to block Twinrova's incoming fire attack, and as it looked like Twinrova was recovering, Tetra jumped in and used her cutlass to latch on to the large broom and began tugging it away. As soon as he could, Link also jumped in and grabbed hold of the broom and began tugging away. Amazingly, the efforts were successful, and Link and Tetra were holding Twinrova's Fire broom. Discarding the broom, they ran around the huge woman and began working on the Ice broom. However, when they felt success was within their grasp, a fiery blast began honing in on them. Link saw the blast before Tetra, and managed to throw himself on top of her to make her duck out of the way and avoid getting seriously singed.

"It was... worth a try?" Link said meekly after seeing Tetra's annoyed face.

"You fools seem to take us for granted." Twinrova lamented. "You seem to believe we could fall for such foolish tricks, when it was us who trained _him_. It was us who raised _him_, gave _him_ his motives, his drive, his bloodthirsty desire. We carved _him_ into legend and destiny. _He_ was ruthless, cunning and strategic, and he owed it all to us."

"He?" Tetra wondered. She turned to Link to see if she could somehow find an answer. "You don't suppose...?"

"_He_ was like he was because_ we_ are like that, and so much more!" Twinrova continued, her dual voice starting to grow higher-pitched. "You are nothing compared to what _he _can do. We shall strip you of your precious powers, Princess, and we will govern the land for a hundred years, so when the time of his revival comes, we will be ready! It will be glorious!"

"He... wait." Tetra interrupted, after finally remembering what she was trying to. "You don't mean... That man is going to return? No, no... After the way we left him last time? There's no way."

"Oh, but there is." Twinrova declared.

"I can't believe that such a thing is going to happen. Not again." Link said, looking more and more worried as time passed. "Ganondorf. He's returning, isn't he?"

"Well, he's not!" Tetra exclaimed. "Not if I can help it! And you..." She directed her attention to Twinrova. "All this talk about creating a better world... I didn't buy it one bit! You're just doing your precious Ganondorf's bidding when it comes down to it. You have all this power and all this knowledge... and all you can think of doing with it is to pave the way for the worst thing that's happened through Hyrule's history?" She stopped for a moment and contemplated at Twinrova's large figure with an expression of disgust and perhaps some pity. She then shook her head and turned away from her opponent. "All the things you've done... and this is your end goal. You truly have no justification. You are proof positive that there can really be truly evil people in this world, people who care for nothing but themselves, with no regard of the pain you cause to others. How can you live like that, with no love in your heart at all, with not even the faintest care in the world? You... you..."

Right then, an ice blast caught Tetra in her back by surprise. "We what?" Twinrova asked the downed princess as she began approaching her. "Save your soapbox speeches, Princess. Nothing you say will make us change our views. You will relinquish your Light Force to us now, and we promise your end will be painless. Now stay calm under that block of ice and... GHACK!"

Just as Twinrova got close to Tetra, a sharp pang of pain ran across the witch's back. Link dropped into the ground and cleaned his sword after attacking Twinrova, and then rushed over to Tetra while their opponent was busy tending to her wounds. With a mighty swing of the sword, he cracked the ice off Tetra's back and freed her. When he took a good look at Tetra's back, however, he did not liked what he saw: several open gashes were exposed thanks to the sharp ice, letting blood slowly flow out and staining the already ragged dress red.

"Link... Are you okay... OW! Ow, ow, ow." Tetra wailed as soon as she stood straight again.

"Easy, Tee. You're bleeding." Link informed her. "Er... can't you heal yourself in cases like this?"

"I... I think I can." Tetra answered through clenched teeth, trying to stand the excruciating pain. "But those wounds are taking all my concentration. Link, could you... cover for me while I recover?"

"Sure." Link nodded with a smile on his face, gripping his sword in a battle position. He quickly turned around just in time to see Twinrova float back up in the air, recently recovered from the wounds Link inflicted her.

"Out of the way, kid!" Twinrova yelled, using the haunting effect of her dual voices to full effect. "Do not anger me any more. I only seek the Princess. You are not my goal, so do not make me destroy you."

"Sorry, but no." Link said, in a completely determined manner. "I made a promise. 'Protect the Princess with your sword and your shield. Do not let her bear this burden alone.' And I intend to fulfill it. Even if it means battling things like you." He raised his shield and prepared his sword and looked down at Twinrova as if reading her out. "I'm your opponent now. So come on, have at me!"

Link then charged right at Twinrova, who was already raising her brooms to prepare her next attack. Link made to jump, which alerted Twinrova and threw her fire blast high, but Link just decided to roll under her, making her miss spectacularly. While beneath Twinrova, Link pulled a spin attack, managing to catch the witch's talons. Before he could do something else, though, Twinrova managed to throw a couple of high kicks that caught Link in the chin and sent him flying some dozen feet and made him land on his gut.

Twinrova saw she had the way clear to catch Tetra, so she approached her target quickly and began chanting a secret incantation. Before she could finish, however, a nut flew down from above her and exploded right on her face, startling her and making her stumble down to the floor again. Link burst into a sprint and, sword in hand, made to attack Twinrova again. Before he could get too close, however, Twinrova pounded the floor, making it crack open and forcing Link to stumble down and slow his progress. Seeing this, Twinrova launched herself from the ground right towards Link and crashed onto him, running him through the ground a couple of yards before finally stopping and lifting him with one of her hands.

"My, my." Twinrova exclaimed, curious as to what she was seeing. "Aren't you handsome? You would do perfectly by our side. What do you say? Join us and reign for a hundred years in the perfect world?"

"Not... a... chance." Link muttered, while grabbing his collar to avoid being strangulated. "I'd never betray Tetra, especially... not... for... YOU!" He suddenly pulled out another Deku Nut and threw it at Twinrova's face, making her squirm and letting him loose. Link landed gracefully, while Twinrova flopped down unceremoniously, after which she stared at Link with a snarling face. "I would drop that face right about now if I were you." Link warned her. Twinrova did not listen, instead making her face all the more menacing. Then, a bright golden light shone from behind her, and it looked brighter by the second. "Too late."

Twinrova turned back just in time to see Tetra's concentrated face and shining yellow eyes moments before a large energy blast hit her right in the arm area. Twinrova spun around in the air for a few seconds before crashing on the floor. Link turned to Tetra, who gave him a reassuring nod... before falling down to her knees in exhaustion.

"Tetra!" Link shouted as he made his way to his tired partner. He knelt before her and propped her arm over his shoulder. "What happened? Why did you...?"

"I guess I used up too much power at once." Tetra suggested, still feeling woozy. "I feel weak. I don't know if I can..."

"You musn't give up!" Link snapped back, trying to psyche her back into the fight. "Not now that we're this close. I'm tired, too. I can admit it's becoming harder for me to get up every time I'm thrown to the floor, but I'll still do it... a hundred times over if I need to. So come on, we gotta..."

"YEAAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!" A shrill, creepy scream enveloped the room and shocked Link and Tetra to look around and see where did it come from. Then they saw Twinrova, still down on the floor, looking in shock and fear at her own right arm, bright red and pulsating, and showing no signs of actual recovery. "Our arm... We cannot... We tried, but... That... magic... it must've..." Twinrova spoke amidst the pain, incapable of forming complete sentences. Slowly but surely, her gaze turned to where Link and Tetra were, and her expression had turned into one of deepest hatred and spite.

Despite the mother of all evil eyes that he was getting, Link found reason to celebrate. "Is that what I think it is? Tetra, look. She can't heal from that attack. She has a weakness. By Din, the witch has a weakness!"

"Yeah... Great." Tetra answered, though not in the best of moods. "There's just one problem with that."

"What? What could be the...?" Link started asking, but then he turned to Tetra, and he noticed how she was still trying to recover from her last attack. "Oh... yeah. We're not gonna see a repeat of that anytime soon, are we?" Link wondered, to which Tetra shook her head solemnly. "Well, that stinks. Unless we can think up some other way to give her some energy medicine, we have to think something else for... wait."

"What?" Tetra asked. It was to no avail, though, since Link was doing his own deliberations on his own mind, making her wonder what he was going to suggest now.

"... And then she fell. That's it!" Link exclaimed with a mischievous smile on his face. "Tetra, can you get up?"

"Well... yeah, I think I can now." Tetra answered.

"Then I need you to fight. Get right in front of the witch and battle her head-on."

"What are you, crazy?" Tetra complained. "I feel weak. I'm not going to hold my own against her. She'll murder me if I let her, and you're asking me..."

"I'm asking you..." Link interrupted her, grabbing hold of her hands while meeting her eyes directly in a serious and determined gaze. Meanwhile in the background, Twinrova was forcing herself to work past the pain and trying to stand up. "... to trust me. I'm not gonna abandon you here or anything. We're just gonna have to split now, but if this works, and I have a good feeling it will, we're gonna have that abomination there on a silver platter. This is just like the beginning, remember?"

"I draw her out..." Tetra started.

"... And I nail her." Link finished.

Seeing Link like this, Tetra could do nothing but smile away and nod in approval. Link smiled in return and, helping her get back up to her feet, he gave Tetra her cutlass that was lying on the floor and ran off to another location far away from her.

"Well, time to work..." Tetra mumbled to herself. She then cleared her throat and, with her cutlass firmly gripped on her hands, she spoke louder in the direction of the wounded Twinrova. "Hey! Big, green and ugly! I don't even know what this monstrosity is called, but I know you shouldn't even exist! I once fought four ugly witch sisters, but MAN, you beat all four of them with your face alone!" Tetra's mean spirited taunts were working: Twinrova was getting more and more enraged, making the witch forgo her great pain and finally stand up completely. She then summoned her two brooms back on her hands and floated up and close to where Tetra was. "So what? You're gonna fight me? Then fight me!"

Twinrova did not need to be invited twice. Using her Ice broom as a sword, she took a first swing against Tetra, who quickly blocked the strike with her cutlass. Then Tetra started to throw swing after swing to try and get Twinrova, but every time, the witch was ready with a block. After each swing, Tetra was feeling weaker and weaker, but suddenly, Twinrova stopped and contorted her face in a severely painful position. When Tetra looked around, Link was on Twinrova's opposite side, and he had just sliced a small gash on the witch's throbbing red arm. Twinrova did not dwell on the pain much, however, and spun to meet her new assailant with a quick swing of her Fire broom, to which Link responded with a shield bash to swat her strike away and a swing of his own sword. Sadly, his sword fell short by so little and gave Twinrova the chance to recover and block any more incoming strikes. Swing for swing, Link and Twinrova were pretty equal and seemingly at a standstill.

Tetra knew this was her chance to stir things up, so she readied her cutlass for a mighty stab and let out a battle cry. This battle cry alerted Twinrova just in time to avoid anything from either side and refocus her fight with Tetra. Now, instead of locking herself on a sword fight, Twinrova just quickly pointed her Ice broom at Tetra and let out a blast at point-blank range. Tetra extended her arms as if trying to block the incoming blast and winced as she braced for impact...

But nothing happened.

Twinrova looked at her targed with a completely dumbfounded face. She could not believe she had just seen her Ice blast simply disappear right in front of her without doing the smallest amount of damage. It was just impossible. Tetra looked as surprised as Twinrova for a moment, but then she calmed down and looked like nothing had happened.

"We see your little games." Twinrova said, pointing to the two people in front of her, while retreating to a wall. "You two think we'll just fall for your parlor tricks, right? That you'll win if we cannot see you, right? Well, you haven't seen everything we can offer. You fought an honorable fight, but it ends now." She then extended her arms, and all around the walls of the sacrificial room, the red and blue flames serving as lighting jumped from their places and approached the middle point of the room, severely cutting the room's footing to half and bringing about an eerie ambiance about the room.

"BEHOLD! THE TRUE TERROR OF TWINROVA!"

Just as Twinrova said those words, the flames grew taller and more unruly, shooting miniature flames and blocks of ice all around the arena. The miniature red flames dispersed into four smaller jet streams running on the floor, while the ice blocks stuck on the floor and froze the ground near their landing area and shooting off tiny icicles. Link and Tetra already had a reduced fighting space due to the circle of flames, now they had to deal with these random interruptions.

"Now this is just great!" Link sneered while trying to avoid the hailfire rain. "How are we supposed to do anything here? What's next, huh?"

"DUCK!" Tetra yelled out as she pulled Link down to a safe spot in the ground before Twinrova could run him over. When they looked up, they could see Twinrova turning around and pointing her Fire broom at them, so they dived in opposite directions to avoid any blast. Instead of the standard blast, however, a small energy ball was shot and entered the floor, creating fissures and hot steam from underneath and making it harder to breathe and to see forward.

"Te... [COUGH! COUGH!] ...tra!" Link tried to call out to Tetra, whom he just had lost direct contact with.

"I'm... [COUGH!] ...here!" Tetra answered not too far away from Link. "Can you... [COUGH!] ...see Twinrova?"

"No! I... [COUGH!] ...can't see anything." Link responded. He then saw a shadow approaching him rapidly. "Wait... wait!"

Before he could do anything, Link was picked up and flung into the air by Twinrova, who used the steams to conceal herself. Spinning wildly, Link couldn't really do anything except wait for Twinrova to get to him and attack him, but somehow, he was being left alone... which he dreaded even more. He started falling down, and it looked like he was heading directly to the flames, when he was swept off by a speeding witch. "No, that's too easy." Twinrova decided. "You've given us too big a headache to give you such a merciful death." She then swooped down to the ground and picked up Tetra before rising back up. "I want you to be alive so you can witness the beginning of our new era... the era of Twinrova!"

Twinrova then began to squeeze her left hand where Tetra was trapped, making the princess squeal in agony. "TETRA!" Link screamed, trying to free himself from Twinrova's grasp. Meanwhile, Twinrova did not turn her gaze from Tetra, and her face was giddy with anticipation over the end result of her plan. She squeezed Tetra again, making her let out another painful scream, and then she squeezed once more, this time for a longer time, just to watch Tetra's horror-stricken face as she let out anguished screams.

"YOU! LET HER GO! NOW!" Link screamed at Twinrova, trying to sound as menacing as a young guy trapped in an impossible situation could.

"Or what?" Twinrova questioned, never once turning her gaze to the green-clad boy. "You're going to wriggle some more? Be our guest. But the time for games is over. We will not allow any more of your roughhousing, so don't even think of escaping."

"You know..." Link said, thinking quickly that there must be a way to escape this one, and if brute force wasn't going to do it... "I've been thinking why did you have such a glaring weakness."

"Weakness?" Twinrova wondered, and finally turned to meet Link face to face. "Us? You must be mistaken."

"Oh, but you do." Link restated, starting to form up an idea. "You have problems when we fight you in opposite directions. You can't concentrate on what I'm doing when Tetra's fighting you, and vice-versa. Why, when you have such powers? Simple! It's me!"

"You?" Twinrova scoffed at the mere suggestion. "Don't be ridiculous. Why, you're unimportant to..."

"That's just it, isn't it." Link explained. "You thought I was unimportant. You probably thought I was going to sink with the ship, no? Or that the redeads were going to get me? Or that I wouldn't be able to put up a fight against you? Yet here I am. I am that which you didn't predict. I am the wild card that can bring down your whole plan. You focus so much on the princess, yet you never batted an eye to me, and you're blind to what I can do."

As he spoke, Twinrova's face started to transform into an angrier and angrier tone. He was indeed right, as she did not take into account that Link could even make it that far. She had thought about it, but when she saw into Link's past exploits, she noticed how the Triforce of Courage was with him, and she believed that was the only reason for his previous victories. Now, she had to deal with an unexpected change, and hope for the best for her cause. "Well, humor us, then." She said, still trying to maintain her controlled façade. "What can you do?"

"Well... how about... THIS!" Link yelled, surprising Twinrova into loosening him just enough for him to parry his way out of her grasp and strike a significant blow on her large head. Link immediately grabbed hold of a couple of loose strands of Twinrova's clothes in her back and used them to swing himself back up to her front and reach Tetra. He then stabbed the arm twice before Twinrova would relinquish Tetra away, and just before the large witch crashed on the ground, Link and Tetra jumped off.

"Are you ok? Any broken bones? How's your back?" Link started asking Tetra as soon as he could after landing. "How many fingers am I holding?"

"Quit it, Link!" Tetra reprimanded her partner. "I'm... I'll be okay. I'll need like five weeks of rest after this, but so long as we finish this, I'll be okay." Just then, Tetra could see Twinrova reincorporating herself. "I think we should get a move on. Any ideas, partner?"

"Just one, partner." Link said, preparing her sword and shield. "Divide and conquer."

Then, before Twinrova could gain any advantage, Link and Tetra ran to opposite sides of her and readied themselves for battle once more. Twinrova saw this, and became enraged. "You'd think we'd fall for that again? You are truly fools, aren't you? Well then, prepare yourselves!"

Just then, Twinrova floated on the air right between them, perfectly sideways in between the two, and brandishing her brooms like swords. Before leveling up to where her opponents were, Twinrova crossed her brooms and powered them up, unleashing an area effect of either deep freeze or intense heat to anybody nearby. Link and Tetra exchanged worried looks upon seeing this, but neither showed signs of backing up now, so they braced themselves for the worst. Twinrova descended, Link and Tetra readied their blades, and then in one swift movement, the three were locked in the fight of their lives.

A suffocating, burning heat. A bone-chilling, crippling freeze. An unsuspected amount of pressure. The three locked in battle experienced all these things in a great manner. As Link parried and skipped around to try and go beyond the witch's range, he could barely hold on to his sword and shield due to their increasing heat, and he could almost swear his boots were beginning to melt away. Tetra tried her best to block any advances made by her opponent, but every time her bones and her joints were hurting more and more, and that tiara seemed like it was tightening around her head. For Twinrova, she was still incapable of making the other two relent, as it turned out that her worries were true: with her attention split between the two, she could not do a complete offensive against either, but she knew that as soon as she turned her back to any of the two, she was going to be in a disadvantage.

In an unusually long lock, Link was getting the full burnt of the flames on top of him. The smell of singed hair was starting to catch his nose. His eyes were drying up, his sweat was covering him entirely and his lungs could not take the air shortage anymore. He wanted to continue, but the Fire broom was becoming too much to handle. Just then, the heat simply disappeared, its red and orange glow replaced by a white shine. It took him a moment to realize, but Link noticed that Twinrova had just turned around and switched gears. At first, the cold was a refreshing change of pace which allowed him more movement and air, but he quickly started to tremble and shiver. The imposing cold was taking a toll on his concentration, and his sweat was turning into ice that hampered any sort of movement he had. He was no longer trying to get the jump on Twinrova. Link was now trying everything his body allowed him just to survive.

The sudden shift from ice to fire initially felt good for Tetra, but she quickly found herself coughing again, trying to catch a decent breath. Her joints were feeling looser, and that moment of change gave her enough advantage to be on the offensive, but she quickly found out she was diving right into an inferno. As if trying to play inside an oven, as if peering into the dark soul of Evil personified, this flame felt like it could consume all and burn you to a crisp if you let it. She tried to work through the heat, but the flames and their enveloping glow and heat were taxing on her. She needed to try and find a way to counterattack, and soon. She was not just about to give up, not when she knew just how much was at stake now.

They were still fighting. Twinrova could hardly believe it, but these two were still fighting. She pressed her flames and her frost against them, and still they stood. At points, the two looked like they were doing nothing other than simply block and hold their ground instead of trying to go on the offensive, but that just wasn't enough for her. She wanted them down on their backs, tired and with no further drive to fight. She wanted to destroy them before she had the personal pleasure to end their lives. She wanted to set an example through them to anybody who dared oppose her in the future. No matter how much she wanted these things, though, the truth was these two were being overly resilient. She twisted and turned around, shifting from fire to ice and from ice to fire constantly and hoping to break them by the sudden, constant shift of the elements. She expected the constant pressure of the flames and the freezing temperatures of the ice to stop them cold, but there they were, still up and still putting up a fight. Quite honestly, this was frustrating Twinrova greatly.

"Why? Why? WHY?" Twinrova asked again and again amidst the desperate struggle. "Why do you keep fighting when the inevitable will happen? Why do you seek to continue this quest when everything will someday die and be destroyed? Why continue, when your bodies ache and your limbs cannot stay up any longer? What keeps giving you strength, strength you should have used up so long ago? Why, we ask. Why?"

"Because!" Link answered in between tittering breaths. "We believe in a future. We believe the world can get better, and they can learn from the past and become greater than before. We believe that we can stand united against everything that comes our way, just like we have in the past, and how we expect to happen in the future. And it's because of that that we will keep fighting until the very end! No matter what!"

"You... believe?" Twinrova asked, almost feeling like she didn't know the meaning of the word, or how did he use it. "You believe... Ha! That is to laugh! Your world will fall into oblivion even if we do nothing to it. And you shall be the first ones on that path!" Suddenly, Twinrova spun around and created a temporal shield around her and faced the green-clad hero. Link saw this and braced for impact with his shield, but it was not enough to stop Twinrova's fast punch, which knocked him off and made him skid dangerously close to the flame walls. Before Link could react, Twinrova turned around and faced Tetra, who was suddenly overwhelmed by having the witch's undivided attention. "Your turn, Princess. Try and absorb this." Twinrova said. Instead of a punch, though, she pointed both brooms directly at Tetra's chest area. Then, without warning, a mixed Freezeflame shot emerged from the brooms at point-blank range.

"NOOOOOOOO! TEEEE!" Link screamed.

He could do nothing but witness how the shot exploded into a bright light.

How it blew Tetra's body high in the air.

How Tetra landed with a bone-crushing thud on the ground.

How her body limped there... motionless.

"Now then, let's retrieve the Light Force before it's too late." Twinrova said as she approached Tetra's body, beginning to mutter her secret incantation.

"You..." Link muttered, struggling to stand up. He picked up his sword and his shield and breathed deeply, trying to focus on what he had to do. He had to focus on... on...

"_Link! Get your butt back up!"_

"_Aaah! Get off me, Link!"_

"_Let's go, Link."_

"_Link..."_

"_Liiiiiink!"_

"_LINK!"_

...

"_Thank you, Link. For everything."_

"Oh?" Twinrova asked casually, looking in full control once more. "You're still alive? What are you supposed to do now that everything you worked for is gone? Where are your beliefs? What CAN you do?"

"I... I..." Link stuttered, trying to get his head on right. Then in a flash, he jumped to a sprint with newfound strength, and with the darkest, most angered face he had ever allowed himself to have, he dashed straight to Twinrova with his sword ready to strike. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Link's anger-fueled frenzy gave him such speed that Twinrova was not able to stop him as he jumped right to her legs. Link then climbed up to her hip, and then up to her shoulder. Twinrova tried to swat the frenzied kid away, but he hopped up before she could touch him and gave a good swing at her head. Link then threw his three remaining Deku Nuts at her, blinding her and giving him free reign to cut her up good. He took this opportunity and kicked Twinrova's brooms away and hopped all over her body, stabbing away at every hop. Twinrova found the strength and the chance to shake the guy off and she swung her hands wildly to make him go on the defensive. Link then raised his shield to avoid the large fists and charged his spin move for the perfect moment.

But the moment never arrived.

Twinrova stopped her offensive just short of the big point, shifting her gaze from Link to what was behind him. Link was first too focused on attacking to notice, but then he saw there was something wrong for Twinrova to stop attacking.

"Link..."

I must be going crazy, Link thought. His imagination must be playing games with him. For the briefest of times, he thought he had heard the voice of...

"Link..."

If that was Link's imagination, it must be a pretty vivid one. He decided to turn and see the source of the voice. What he saw shocked and amazed him.

It was Tetra.

Struggling, but standing up.

The front of her princess clothes were shredded.

And half hidden in her clothes... was the Mirror Shield.

It was shining, full with power.

"... Move." Tetra warned Link in a raspy voice, her head still looking down.

Link did not need to be told twice, and ran out of the way between Tetra and Twinrova. When the large witch saw what the revived princess had hidden under her clothes, she was horrified. The last time she saw a shield like that, she was attacked and weakened beyond the stretches of her powers, becoming reduced to a spirit. "No... how did you power this up?"

Tetra then raised her gaze, showing her bright yellow eyes staring down at Twinrova's eyes. She grabbed the Mirror Shield with her left hand, which had the Magical Glove, and it gave a soft white glow that extended towards the shield. "You helped me." Tetra answered.

Tetra's golden glow flooded the entire room and the Mirror Shield was filled with a glow of its own. Her eyes, bright yellow due to the intensity of the power, leered at Twinrova with the intensity only reserve to a person she deeply hated. When the Shield had reached its critical point, Tetra held tightly to it and braced her feet to the ground. The last thing Twinrova could do was open her eyes wide in a manned she had not tried in hundreds of years.

The blast was powerful and intense beyond description.

Twinrova was shot right at her chest area. The power of the blast was so great that it lifted her all the way to the high ceiling, making her crash with great force onto the cave-like rock formation. The strength of the blast was so much that she remained suspended, being crushed between the rock and the energy shot. The capacity of the blast was so that it ran Twinrova through the ceiling, through the rocks and the stalactites, carving a new design to it with her body.

And then, the energy of the Mirror Shield ended. The blast could no longer hold Twinrova on the air, and the beaten witch fell down, spinning out of control, and finding herself without the ability to summon her powers of her brooms to stop anything. And then... she fell, knee first.

[CRACK!]

The sound of Twinrova's legs breaking was absolutely sickening. It was so bad that Link, who has seen and slain many creatures, couldn't help but wince and turn his head away when it happened. "Man, that's a bad way to go." he commented. After this attack, almost all lights, including the flames and Tetra's glow, regressed, save for the two original flames in the beginning, turning the room back into its original low lighting

The loud clanging of metal alerted Link of one other matter: Tetra. Despite using a great deal of energy to give Twinrova a good what for, she did not seem too tired. Instead, she looked relieved that she was finally able to loosen that shield off the straps she made. (She's covered in her usual purple shirt, in case any pervert was wondering.) "Heh... took some to conceal that." She confessed to Link, noticing that he was approaching her. "I thought Dante was going to be its victim. Never had the chance to, though."

Link shook his head in disbelief when he wrapped his head on all that this implied. "You... you kept the shield all this time. And here I though it was lost to the desert. Oh, well... I'm just glad you're all right. You gave me quite a scare back there."

"Sorry, but that thing really did knock me out for a few seconds." Tetra said, passing her hand over her rustled hair. "I still have a headache over it."

Link couldn't help but chuckle over it. He started reminiscing over what had just happened, and the fact that they were basically done. "Look at us."

Tetra took a good look at Link and herself. There was not a part of their bodies that was not untouched. Every part of themselves screamed 'war-torn'. "Beaten. Battered. Bruised. Bloodied. Burned. Broken."

"Black-eyed." Link added, showing the black eye he got from the punch.

"Black-eyed, yeah." Tetra acknowledged. "Battle-torn. But bested the beast. Boy, when we remember this in the future..."

"And... it's not... over yet!"

Link and Tetra turned around as soon as they heard that raspy and labored voice. On the ground was still Twinrova, in all her broken splendor, looking positively burned and defeated, and her skin was almost entirely bright red, but somehow still breathing and conscious enough to speak smack at the pair by her.

"You?" Link wondered how was it that Twinrova could still be alive. "Why won't you die?"

"We cannot die." Twinrova said in between labored breaths. "You cannot kill us... not with that amount of power alone... No, you'd need something... at least ten times as strong... but you cannot, so..." Twinrova stopped for a moment as she contorted her face in various painful positions, but letting out no sound. "Accursed Princess... We cannot move now... it's taking all of our strength... not to give in to the despair of pain... But we can still regenerate... and we will rebuild our bones... and our skin... It will take a long time... but we shall seek greater power... and we shall destroy you... We will leave nothing to chance... You will pay!"

Link and Tetra looked at each other, their looks of worry echoed in the other. "It's true." Tetra whispered. "It's scary, but she would do it. So long as she's alive." Tetra then turned around and noticed something on the floor almost shrouded by the darkness. It was the Ancient Hyrulian Book, which had somehow survived this onslaught, with the final loose page inside, sticking out slightly. Tetra opened the book and re-read the final loose page, which spoke of how to transfer the Light Force to someone else, but it also made a quick mention of the extent of the Light Force's power. She then looked at her left arm, which had the Magical Glove which, despite being dirty, did not have any significant signs of damage. She then remembered the words of a note she found a long time ago, almost as if it was yesterday.

"Alone, they can enhance... but together, their power will be increased tenfold..." Tetra thought it over, but she couldn't find another way around it. Thus, she made her decision. "Link... I have to ask you to do something." She said. She hesitantly raised her left hand towards Link. "Please... hold my hand. Don't let go." Link did not understand what she was thinking about, but he saw that, at least, she needed his support right now, so he obliged and raised his right hand to meet with Tetra's.

"Listen... I know how to end this." Tetra explained. Her voice sounded very gloomy as she spoke, though. "I have the power to do it, and the gloves will help greatly. But..." She hesitated to continue, for she knew what was coming next. She sighed deeply, and took a deep breath before continuing. "But... doing so... could kill us, too." Tetra dropped her gaze and let her hair cover her face at this point. She really did not have any other alternative at hand, and she hated asking Link to help her in this. "It's not guaranteed we could die, but... the power I need is so great, and it's going to be dangerous... but also, I can't just let that thing alive. If I could think of something else... but I..."

Tetra was stopped by a familiar feeling: a warm squeezing of the hand by Link. The green-clad hero just looked at Tetra with a warm and honest smile and shook his head lightly. "I'm never letting go." He declared.

Tetra raised her head after hearing this. She could see, with that one act, just how far was Link ready to go just for her. Seeing that, she couldn't help but shed a tear. She was ready to do what she had to do, with the necessary help by her side... but she felt she needed to do something first. "Link..." She began, speaking in almost a whisper, and forcing Link to pay attention. "I... before we finish this... I wanted to tell you something, well, for so long already, but somehow I just couldn't. And, well... I just wanted to say it... you know, before the end."

Link looked firmly at Tetra, rapt with attention. He understood every word she had told him, and nodded silently in confirmation, deciding to wait for Tetra to say what she had wanted to say for so long. Then, without warning, without a single word uttered...

... she kissed him.

In that one kiss, All of Tetra's emotions shone through in their purest of ways. All her fears, all her pride, all her worries, all her anxiousness, all of her happiness... all her _love_. In that one kiss, Tetra had told Link more than she could have told her with mere words.

The kiss was wondrous, but sadly short. When Tetra and Link stepped back, they were undoubtedly pink in the face, but they would also not dare to break the eye-lock, or lower their silly smiles. Link then cleaned the stream of tears that was forming on Tetra's cheek with his own sleeve. However, an agonizing groan of pain helped them return to what could be their last act together. Link and Tetra turned around to face Twinrova, who was still breathing shallow and concentrating on not letting the anguishing pain control her. Tetra gripped tightly on Link's hand, making sure he was still there at that important moment, and just as he promised, he was still there.

"Ready?" Tetra asked.

"Ready." Link answered concisely.

"Wait..." Twinrova beseeched.

There was no turning back. Tetra had already tapped into the depths of her Light Force for the biggest power she could unleash.

"No... stop!" Twinrova pleaded.

Tetra began to shine in a powerful white glow. This glow grew stronger and stronger until it lighted up a good deal of the large room.

"Stop... you'll kill yourselves!" Twinrova inplored.

Tetra and Link then raised their hands, and the Magical Gloves began to shine like they had not shone before. Its powerful glow enhanced the glow of the Light Force, concentrating its power on the two people with the gloves.

"Rethink this, Princess!" Twinrova yelled.

In that very crucial moment, When the final moments were at the doorsteps, Tetra had a sudden memory of a time gone by:

_FLASHBACK_

"_Before you go to sleep, I wanna tell you something, Tetra."_

"_What, mom? Don't look so strange now, it weirds me out."_

"_I've always said you had a special potential. Well, you gotta know you have a great power that nobody else has. This great power could change the world if you set yourself to it. You will come to understand this great power in the future, so don't shun it. Please, do not let anybody take control of that power or of yourself. You can achieve great things if you set your mind to it, Tetra. All you have to do... is believe."_

_FLASHBACK END_

And with one final glare at the entity that had caused her so much suffering, Tetra let out one last tear and uttered just two words:

"I believe."

"No... No... NOOOOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO!"

Twinrova's final screech of pain echoed on the walls as the blinding glow of the Light Force's legendary power enveloped the entire room. The witch tried one last desperate attempt to stop the attack, but her power was simply not enough to block anything of that magnitude. Twinrova's body crumbled and disintegrated into nothingness, ending her long era of terror on the seas.

The walls cracked. The ceiling rumbled. Rocks fell and broke into many debris. The Witches' Keep was falling to the ground, having no more influence for its former tenants. The Sacrificial Circle was broken precisely in half. Its intricately designed rooms gave way to the tremendous force and gave in to the weight of the rocks above. The columns that were supposed to bring support broke and fell away. Before long, the very cave itself started to shift and go down, cracking around the sides and the top and letting out the light of the Light Force to the outside world.

The power of the Light Force was so great, that even the land of New Hyrule was affected. Men and women who had braved to go outside witnessed how the debris of what was once Waarheid were being lifted from the ground by a strange white light and, as if by magic, they disappeared in the skies. Part by part, the destruction and despair that was left by those in charge of the land was cleansed, both physically and emotionally. Abandoned buildings and debris gave way to green pastures, colorful flowers and tall trees. There was fresh air once more, and the people slowly started to remember how life was before Waarheid. The Spirit Tracks were uncovered once more, and its zig-zag shaped roads shone with a pleasant glow that reassured the people that this was quite unlike the dark structures that were before.

Further north, the Abandoned Castle received some of the Light Force as well. Its dull and creepy walls were brightened up once more, its unused furniture was rid of its dust and grime, and every part, from the dungeons to the highest tower, was cleansed of its mold and became livable again. When it was over, the Abandoned Castle was shining brightly, a complete contrast to how it looked before, and a sight to behold for the wayward people looking for a sign of hope.

It was rustic. It was small. It lacked the magnitude or sheer sophistication that Waarheid had. But this land was blessed in plentiful ways that Waarheid could only wish. And as the historians of the land wrote down for the following generations: "On that day, Hyrule was reborn."

All it needed... was its ruler.

* * *

It was a spotless white scenery. The only thing that was distinguishable from all the whiteness was the odd mist that made seeing at long distances tough. In this strange white area, Tetra found herself laying face down on the floor. She was tired and visibly spent, what with the ragged dress stained with blood, her dirty face and her unkempt hair. She could barely recognize the book she was holding on her right hand, even. She even had trouble opening her eyes, doing so with an audible groan as her eyes adjusted to the brightness around her. She did a quick survey of the area, but before she could wonder where she was, she had a more pressing matter in her mind.

"[GASP!] Link!" Tetra exclaimed, opening her eyes wide. She turned her face around to her left side to see if she could see anything, and sure enough, there he was. Link was also laying down on the ground face up, unconscious but breathing clearly. Tetra then noticed something special: Link's right arm was outstretched, his hand tightly clasped on Tetra's left hand, and despite his current condition, it showed no signs of leaving that position.

He never let go.

Tetra, still amazed of this unlikely feat, struggled to get up to her knees. Then, without losing her grip from Link's hand, she crawled the short distance to where Link lay. There, she knelt beside him, and keeping his hand between both her hands, she decided to wait there until he could regain consciousness.

* * *

"Guh... Wha..."

Link started opening his eyes laboriously. He groaned weakly as light filtered into his corneas, and his mind was just adjusting to the world of the conscious. His bad eye was not helping matters here much, either. As he opened his eyes, though, there was a strange form that was blocking much of the brightness in front of him. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he could see Tetra looking back at him, her face filed with anxious expectation, slowly drawing a smile after seeing him wake up.

"Whoa..." Link muttered upon seeing this unusual sight. "Well... this view, I could get used to it." This made Tetra chuckle a bit and shake her head playfully. "Help me up." Link asked, to which Tetra happily obliged, though not without some effort due to their aching bodies. It was then that Link was finally able to see that they were no longer locked in the deep, dark room facing certain doom, but instead in a relatively save location. "So... it's finally over."

"Yes. Yes it is." Tetra concurred. Indeed, there was no more fighting, no more struggling, no more questing and no more searching for lost relics. All the adventuring was over, yes, but with it the pains and worries of it were gone as well. None of those things mattered now, not anymore. Right there, in that small moment of time, there was only the infinity of the pure white background to stare at, and there were only Link and Tetra visible within the confines of their respective sights. Sitting side by side, Link and Tetra could not help looking directly into each other, their eyes projecting an indescribable sense coming form deep withing their hearts. Slowly but certainly, their heads began to move forward, toward each other, their arms wrapping around each other and their eyes slowly closing.

Just then, something odd caught Tetra's eyes. She raised her head in alert and looked towards the horizon. It took some, but within the mist, she was certain she could see an odd formation almost like a mountain slanted to the left. The weirdest thing about it was that this 'mountain' looked like it was approaching them. Tetra looked around to see if any other such mountains were approaching from different sides, but seeing that there were no others, she went for her cutlass... only to find it wasn't there. Fearing the worst, and feeling a tad too weak to even try to use any magical powers, she stared over to the mountain and braced for what was to arrive. Then...

"Captain?"

Tetra's eyes widened. Was she really hearing what she thought she just heard? No, it must've been a mistake, she thought. She thought all this fighting and all that's happened must be making her hear things. She was really tired too, so that was also a...

"Captain! It is you!"

And then she heard it again. There was no mistaking it. The voice was as clear as it could be. Link turned around, as he also heard the voice that second time, just in time to see the shadowy 'mountain' take form as it approached. From the mist, the short and buck-toothed frame of Niko appeared, apparently just waiting to see with his own eyes before finally sprinting into a mad dash. Behind him, Mako, Senza, Gonzo, Zuko and Nudge appeared, all having equally surprised and happy looks upon them.

"You guys..." Tetra whispered, seeing her entire crew in front of her. She was clearly as surprised as the guys looked. Then, Tetra found the strength to stand up and, pushing Link aside, ran up to the crew. "YOU GUYS!" She screamed to the top of her lungs as she went to hug Niko, who was closest, followed by the rest of them in order. Link shook off his stumble and his tiredness and also went to greet the reformed crew.

"Link! Buddy! Where were you?" Niko swamped his favorite partner with inquiries and all sorts of things that only he could go on and say in a moment like this.

"Hey, don't hog the man all for yourself!" Senza said, picking up Link from where he was to give him the mother of all bear hugs, almost crushing him in a way nobody else could. "You did it, Link. You and Miss Tetra finished this whole thing. I knew you could! I always did!"

Amidst the forceful hug, Link could only chuckle weakly and shrug it off.

Then, Tetra finally came to grips with what was happening here, and stepped back to look at the crew she had most certainly hugged and held, confirming they were not pass-through. "Wait... but you guys... you were..."

"... Dead." Gonzo finished solemnly. "We know."

"But then..." She turned around and looked at the bright white place they were, and she remembered there was only one other place she has seen such a place. She then looked at Link with a worried look in her face. "We're also... Were we transported to the Spirit Realm?"

"Spirit Realm? No!" Nudge denied his captain's worries. "This is most definitely not the Spirit Realm, and even if it were, we're definitely not permanent residents."

"Besides, does the Spirit Realm have sand for ground?" Niko explained, scooping sand from the misty ground and showing it to Tetra and Link in all its fine grain glory.

Link and Tetra were clearly confused with how this was looking. Link looked at all the mist and all the brightness and went over to the pirates to ask them something. "But then... where are we?" Tetra asked, speaking above Link and making the poor hero sigh in defeat.

"A beach." Zuko explained. "Ocean's just south of here."

"But how did you get here? You look very alive to me." Tetra questioned, once again speaking before Link could utter a sound.

"You know, that's the weird thing." Nudge said, twisting his head as he reminisced about the events that led them there. "I certainly remember being crushed by that golem Dante thing. Very heavy thing, literally. But then, a green light appeared before me and told me I was getting another chance."

"Green?" Mako wondered, looking at Nudge incredulously. "I saw a blue light."

"Red..." Zuko interjected.

"Irregardless!" Nudge shouted, trying to avoid unnecessary confrontation. "That light told me it promised the princess that they'd give life again to those that died in their cause. Just then, I opened my eyes and I was well, but I was still under the ocean. I almost drowned there, but I felt a rope near me and I grabbed it without thinking, and then... Whoosh! I was pulled right out of the sea and into a small ship captained by that guy. You know, the one that groveled at your feet, Link."

"Linebeck, I think his name was." Mako said, not really seeing Link was ready to answer. Link just shook his head and shrugged away, thinking it best to just stay quiet for the time being. Then, as the mist began to recede and as the bright whiteness started to die off, something caught his eye.

"I remember that." Niko said, living the moment once more on his mind. "It was scary. To think I was about to drown twice in one day. And that rope just kept going up and up... I thought I would go desperate trying to breathe again. But now I'm here so it's all okay."

"This is incredible." Tetra limited herself to saying that in response to the amazing story. "Did they really... what, Link?" She asked, annoyed that she was interrupted so suddenly. Link simply pointed over to the direction of the ocean. The mists were clearing up and the brightness was giving way to the natural blue of the sky and ocean and the sand's rich yellow. And near the horizon of the sea, there was a view nobody thought they'd be able to see: Linebeck's ship was sailing away with the slick-haired captain at its helm, and apparently looking at the direction of the beach the pirates were on. On top of the ship in particular were three women, dressed in strikingly different clothes: one in green, one in blue and one in red, and apparently talking amongst themselves.

"I kept my promise. I returned." Linebeck whispered towards his faraway friends in the coast.

Tetra, Link and the pirates just kept staring at the ship with stupefied looks. "Paint my hair pink and call me Wendy. They really did it." Tetra whispered.

"So!" Niko said, breaking the awkwardness of the situation. "Anyway, we're back together, just like old times. Of course, the Captain's now the princess, and the ship is still resting on the bottom of the ocean, so it's not like old times, but that's not what matters! So what's next, Captain?"

Tetra's eyes widened. Thanks to Niko she remembered something she had planned to do, something she dreaded, but she knew she had to do sooner or later. She took a few steps away from the crew, giving her back to them and lowering her head. "I've put this off for far too long." She whispered to herself. "Guys... I regret to inform you that this is the end. I want to thank you for everything that you've done for me and for your loyalty these past five years. However, as you can see, I am now starting a new chapter in my life. I will no longer be able to be captain of a band of pirates, honorable as you guys have proven to be. So... as my last act as captain, I appoint Gonzo to be your new captain."

"What?"

"No!"

"Miss Tetra..."

"C'mon, Captain."

"I'm not your captain anymore!" Tetra shouted exasperated, forming her hands into tight fists. "I'm the Princess of Hyrule. The sea is not my home anymore. I'll miss it, I admit... but that is not my future. If you want, I can help you get a new ship, but that's the extent of what I can do for you. Now, anything else, that's what Gonzo's for."

For a few moments, there was silence on the beach. The six pirates looked at each other awkwardly, with their new captain, Gonzo, incapable of reasonably knowing what to do or say. Tetra, her back still turned to the rest, shut her eyes tightly and grabbed her forearm, desperately wishing that it would all just end now. Link, feeling lost in all this, stood in between Tetra and the pirates, not knowing whether to go for the crew or for his princess.

"Excuse me, Captain." Senza spoke, moving in front of Gonzo. "Miss Tetra, do you remember the first time you told us about this whole thing? When you showed us that book in the first place? We knew this was going to end your pirate career, but we never backed down. We never decided to leave you just like that. We stuck to the end because, and I believe I speak for all of us here, we think this was more than just any other pirate gang. This was family. You are our family. Well, when one watches you grow from that small and energetic kid you were to the fine young lady you are right now... one kinda grows attached to each other, no?" The others nodded after Senza finished speaking.

"I guess what Senza's trying to say is..." Gonzo stepped in. "... if you're not going to be a pirate anymore, then we're not going to be pirates anymore, either."

Tetra turned around slowly, her face in complete surprise over what she had just heard. She had to see for herself if what Gonzo and the rest were saying was true. Indeed, not a single face of doubt was within the crew that looked back at her, instead looking rather determined and confident in their decision. "You're... serious, aren't you?"

"Oh, Captain, my captain!" Niko said, standing straight up and saluting Tetra by placing his right hand in his chest.

"Oh, Captain, my captain!" Mako repeated, mimicking Niko's actions.

"Oh, Captain, my captain!" Gonzo said as well, using the same moves as the other two.

"Oh, Captain, my captain!" Senza repeated it all as well.

"Oh, Captain, my captain!" So did Zuko.

"Oh, Captain, my captain!" And Nudge, last but not least.

Tetra was taken aback. Sometimes she herself forgot the depths of her crew's loyalty and their developed status as more than just shipmates. "I just can't seem to find a way to get rid of you guys, can I?" She said, chuckling in happiness and relief. In the end, despite all that had happened, despite all their hardships, all their suffering, and all they had to go through, the small crew of eight that once sailed the seas for treasure and adventure were reunited, to be the pioneers of a new world. They would live new lives and find new things to do, mostly things which they were unfamiliar with, but one thing would remain unchanged: they were together, and they shall remain together for as long as they lived.

"So come on!" Niko shouted, moving ahead of the rest. "There's a whole kingdom waiting for us!"

* * *

Men and women walked over the plains of New Hyrule. Children ran merrily, playing with other children and constantly moving ahead of their grown-up counterparts. These people were not lost, nor they were wandering aimlessly. They were walking towards a source of light, so bright and pure that the evening sun paled in comparison to its magnificence. People from all areas were emerging from caves under the land, from trees and bushes, from north and south, all converging on one point. That point was the blue castle near the middle point of Hyrule.

Flint, now dressed in civilian clothes, pointed over to the castle, telling everybody who would listen his story and how everything that was happening was a direct result of it. Dennis, Alexa and Phil walked alongside the rest of the people, making sure the weak, injured and elderly were being taken care of properly. Miyahon was pulling out every piece of paper he had, his creative muscle suddenly working overtime, drawing every single panorama and image of the plains, the people and the castle, wanting to get it all right as it was happening. Guru was stripped of everything that he loved to do, but somehow he didn't mind, for somehow he felt liberated, like all his weights and all his problems just vanished. One by one, the people gathered all around the castle, yet not one entered it, not because of fear, but rather because they were expecting something outside.

Inside the castle, a young lady dressed in fine clothes and wearing a golden tiara made her way to the balcony. On her way, seven men of different sizes and shapes, all dressed in their best royal-worthy clothes, awaited her with their backs to the wall leading to the balcony. As she passed each one, the men gave the young lady a solemn bow adorned with a smile of full happiness. The final man, dressed in green and brandishing a sword and a shield in his back, not only bowed, but also extended his arm, waiting for the lady to take his offering. "They're expecting you." he said.

Out on the balcony, the young princess was finally able to see the full extent of her kingdom. Men and women and children of all ages... millions of them, all in front of her castle, all waiting just to get a glimpse of the new era of their beloved land. She was almost overwhelmed by the grand scope of it all, but the knight in green gave her a reassuring pat on her hand and gave her a look of complete confidence. This was enough for the princess, who then walked the rest of the way on her own, until she was at the balcony's guardrail. She clasped her hands together, as if in prayer, and then, extending her arms up into the air, a grand and pure glow emerged from the balcony, forming a spherical halo around her. At this moment, every person at ground level exploded in cheers and celebration. Every man, every woman and every child near and far celebrated the joyous rebirth of the great kingdom of Hyrule. The applause and the various expressions of support and happiness were long and incredibly energetic. The land, for the first time in five years, was united and flourishing like it had never before.

And above the evening sky, Din, Nayru and Farore, alongside Fairy Queen Venus and sages from ages gone by watched the spectacle, and the three Goddesses sprinkled the land with their golden magic, so that it would be prosperous forevermore.

**To Be Concluded**

(A/N: Epilogue by next week. Bank on it.)


	19. Epilogue: A Kingdom Reborn

REVIEW ANSWERIN' time is leaving and applying for a job as a movie critic. He says watching Rocky Horror Picture Show 57 times makes him overqualified, though.

TwilightMonster27: You are just too kind, dude. I'm honored you had all these nice words for me. I'm almost overwhelmed, in fact. Fun fact: as I wrote chapter 18, I kept second-guessing myself as to Tetra's characterization. I thought it over and then realized: This character's evolved so much, it's almost indistinguishable from the pirate girl reluctant to let Link on her ship back on TWW. This surprised even me. As for the scenes... it helped that I planned those scenes for a while until I thought they were great, and if I was excited as I wrote the scenes myself, I knew that, at least, it was something special. I dunno if I'd call this a "masterpiece", but at least it's the one story I've worked on the hardest yet, and I think it shows. I mean, I bought Spirit Tracks near launch JUST for research on this story (It's a great game on its own, though). That has to count for something. So if you want to try writing, go right ahead. You might write some stinkers early on (I know I did), but if you keep at it, you'll find your niche.

u00dfrady: Ok, ok. I guess I'll have to wait for your full comments later on. Considering you've been my toughest reviewer, I commend you for sticking with it. Believe me, after the tragedy that was Wizzrobe King (K&K was a joke boss fight), I wanted to go wild with this final battle. Besides, why should final boss fights have to be easy? (TP's Ganondorf was like the Energizer Bunny, for example.) No, the Pirates were never intended to become sages, nor were they always meant to die in Ch. 16. I just couldn't write my way out of a "lost at sea" plot point. Go me. Oh, and before I forget: Sappy birt... eh... HAPPY birthday to you, I mean.

Hoosier: Worded awkwardly... There's the curse of not being an English major, or English not being one's main language. I tried, though. And considering I devoted 15 pages to the fight, keeping it fresh, exciting and suspenseful was a challenge. Yes the gloves were great for that, but I'm surprised nobody said a thing about the Mirror Shield. It was the sole reason I wrote the mirror puzzle in Ch. 9. (I cut three rooms in that chapter, just so you know.) As for that one scene... to think I almost ruined it, going as far back as Ch. 8. Glad I stuck to my plan. And yes, I squee'd at the scene at well. At my own story. Make of that what you will. Thanks for your comments, and you can bet that, while this is the end for ZOoL, it's not the end of me as a writer.

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

EPILOGUE: A Kingdom Reborn

Rain poured heavily. Thunder and lightning struck all over. Oceans grew and rivers raged with ever increasing intensity. Hyrule Castle began succumbing to the pressure of thousands of millions of gallons of water, ruining and destroying anything that might have been of value in the past. Villages were decimated, windmills broke apart, and lighthouses became worthless. Hyrule was dying due to a massive flood, which was the fulfilling of the wish to the Triforce, and currently, only a tall tower remained with two youths and an elderly man standing on its very top.

"My children... Listen to me." Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule spoke in a grim and repentant tone of voice. "I have lived regretting the past, and I have faced those regrets. If only I could do things over again... Not a day of my life has gone by without my thoughts turning to my kingdom of old. But you... I want you to live for the future."

Link and Tetra, holding on to each other to avoid falling down due to tiredness, listened intently on the ancient king's final lament.

"There may be nothing left for you..." Daphnes continued, his elderly voice beginning to break. "But despite that, you must look forward and walk a path of hope, trusting that it will sustain you when darkness comes." Just then, the king lowered his head in shame. He had known the circumstances behind Hyrule's flood, and still he had not the courage to do something in time. Now, he was paying the final price.

"Farewell..." Daphnes spoke in almost a whisper, his voice broken. "This is the only world that your ancestors were able to leave you. Please... forgive us."

Tetra looked very sad at the unexpectedly bitter turn of events and its end result. She lowered her head, deep in thought, and tried to come up with a possible solution to the situation. Then, an ingenious idea occurred to her. "W... Wait!" She said, raising her head and smiling with newfound hope. "You could... you could come with us!" Link turned his face at Tetra curiously, wondering what she was thinking, while Daphnes merely raised his head calmly. "Yes, of course... we have a ship! We can find it. We WILL find it! The land that will be the next Hyrule!" Daphnes' stoic look lowered Tetra's overall enthusiasm, but still she did not want to lose this one. Not like this. "So..."

"..." Daphnes broke his stoic look and gave the duo a large but sad smile. He knew full well he was still bound to the destroyed Hyrule, and he could not just leave. "Ah, but child... that land... will not be the Hyrule of old." He then took one final look at the children's hopeful faces, their eyes expecting a happy ending at the end of the road. He never felt sorrier to disappoint.

"It will be _your _land!"

...

...

..._ That... was over two years ago._

_

* * *

_

_It has been six months since Hyrule was reborn. It's been a rough six months, but the incredible strength of the people has made this so much easier than we all thought it would be. Thanks to their good will and cooperative nature, the people of Hyrule have been able to build houses, open stores, plant fields with fruits and vegetable, breed animals, and so much more in this short time. I decided to not make myself a stranger to my people, and I have done frequent visits to the Castle Town and other villages and settlements, overseeing their work and helping them whenever I could. That stuff was not in the Ancient Hyrulian Book, a book that spoke of my precursors in the Ancient Hyrule, but I decided that, being the first in this new Hyrule, I had a responsibility with those living under my wing, and I'm not just about to leave them. Also, I could write it down somewhere so my descendants follow on this as well._

_I still remember the words that were spoken to me by the last king of the Ancient Hyrule. "Live for the future. Look forward and walk a path of hope, trusting that it will sustain you when darkness comes." I never truly understood the meaning of those words... at least, not until I undertook the journey that changed my life. Those words echoed on my mind whenever the darkest moments of my life arrived. Sometimes, I was wondering if it was all worth it, if anything I was doing would have its desired effect. After seeing how this kingdom is progressing, and how the people are genuinely happier than before, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that, yes, everything was worth the trouble. If the King of old were able to see what we have managed to do, I am sure he would give us a broad smile of happiness._

_I'm also glad that the people that were with me through the journey that shaped my new life have found things and have become capable of adapting to this life. Gonzo, for example, has been working on finding a way to use the Spirit Tracks for faster transport. Even though he's officially the Hylian Army's General, he decided to help people in another way. Whenever Anjean visits and sees this, she merely winks and smiles, which makes me think she knows more than she's letting on. Mako's on the castle and decided to use his knowledge to good use as the Royal Historian and Scribe. Senza's Captain of the First Batallion the Hylian army, with Zuko as his second-in-command. Nudge's the Chief in charge of the Hyrule Reconstruction Project, which is still going strong. And Niko? He's my personal consultant. Who would've thunk it would work like that? But to my amazement, he's really good at it._

_If any of you are wondering... no, I am not missing one person. There IS another guy who was with me through thick and thin, who held me up when I couldn't stand on my own, who gave me headaches, troubles, unexpected surprises... and so much help and support. However, as I write this, he is not with us. His whereabouts are unknown. All I know is that he took to the sea one day about five months ago and hasn't returned..._

_FLASHBACK_

"Are you sure of this, Link?"

"Yes. Of course I am. I know what I'm doing."

"You... don't have to go right now, you know."

"I'm sorry. I can't delay this any longer. It's been already two years. I'm sure they're worried sick for me."

"I understand. But then... Then, I'm going with you!"

"You can't. You have to stay here. These people need you right now. They're only just rebuilding their lives, and they need you."

"N... no! No, they don't! I can assign someone else to oversee things! I can afford to not be here right now."

"You have to stay. These people are counting on you. You are their leader, their source of hope. If you are not there in this crucial time, then they will feel abandoned."

"But what about me? I'm already feeling abandoned! I need you! What if you don't come back? What will I do then?"

"..."

"Link?"

"..."

"ANSWER ME!"

"... I will return. I promise."

"Are... how can you even be sure?"

"Trust me. I will return to you. No matter what happens, no matter how long it takes, I WILL return."

"You... [sob] promise?"

"Cross my heart."

"Well... you better be back, 'cause... [sob] 'cause I'll be waiting for you. I'll wait all my life if I need to."

And it was with a heavy heart that boy and girl parted ways. Link, the young man clad in green, boarded his red ship and sailed to deep waters, seeking to find his way to the place of his childhood. Tetra, the Princess of the new kingdom, stood behind on the docks, her face streaming with tears as she saw the red ship retreat from land and disappear into the horizon, her arms clutching Link's sword as a memento of his promise. And there she stood, until the sun descended and slumbered.

_END FLASHBACK_

_... What became of that person? Not a single person currently in Hyrule knows. All that I have to go on is a promise that he will return... someday._

_

* * *

_

"Chief? Are you ready?"

Tetra heard the voice of her consultant and set her writing quill down. She then turned around to see Niko: still the same short man with the same buck tooth, still the same hairstyle, but dressed in a fancy blue vest with a white shirt and cravat. Quite the departure of his raggedy pirate clothes from not too long ago.

"Just... give me a minute." Tetra answered. She closed her diary and, after taking a fond look at the sword Link left with her, she picked up her tiara and set in on her head. "All right. Let's go."

Then, Tetra and Niko walked out of her chambers and climbed down the stairs. Niko read through some papers, summarizing the things they were set to do that day. Tetra, however, was not really hearing him. For some reason, that day her mind was not on the same plane as the rest of the world, she was distracted, but she couldn't exactly pinpoint what was distracting her.

Both princess and consultant made their way to the Throne Room, a tall, fancy room furnished with red carpets branded with the Hyrule Royal Family crest, a large and comfy throne in the back center point, and a stained glass window that had the Triforce symbol on it. Tetra decided to sit on the throne for a moment and, hoping she could get her head on straight, she rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes.

"Headache, you highness?"

Tetra quickly opened her eyes and raised her head after she heard the voice. It was not a voice she had heard anytime in the recent past, so she had every right to be cautious. She and Niko looked around the room to find the source of the noise, and eventually, in the far corner of the room they found... a child. This blond-haired girl didn't look a day over eleven, and though Tetra understood she was no threat, she still wondered what she was doing there.

"How did you find your way in here, little girl?" Tetra asked, sounding as calm and friendly as possible.

"What? Do you not recognize me?" The girl wondered, like it was an everyday thing.

"Eh... should I know you?" Tetra asked again, starting to feel confused.

"Oh, I guess it's been so long already." The girl figured. She then walked out of the shade of the corner and let the light filtering through the stained glass window shine upon her. "I'm not good at this royal thing, so... Well, my name is Aryll."

"Aryll..." Tetra repeated, turning her eyes as she tried to jog her memory. "Now, why does that name sound familiar to me?"

"In case you don't remember, I once rode on your ship." Aryll explained. "Your crew rescued me and two other girls from that dank prison and that giant bird. I remember you told the guys to go on without you, and you went to help my brother."

Tetra's eyes opened wide after hearing this. "Your... brother?" She said, almost in a whisper. Even Niko was aware of what the girl was talking about, and couldn't help but wonder what she was implying. "Just one question... Does your brother... have a tendency of wearing green?"

"See? You DO remember." Aryll said happily. "About those green clothes... I can't believe he still wears them. I wouldn't wear those things. They look so uncomfortably warm, and..."

Tetra then stood up from the throne in a hurry. She started walking towards Aryll, her face beginning to turn desperate. "Your brother... is he here? Is he nearby?"

"Oh, yeah." Aryll answered nonchalantly. "He told me to go ahead and find you while he helped Grandma down the ship. I reckon they should be near here at this time, so..."

Tetra did not wait for Aryll to finish. The princess bolted out of the Throne Room, past the young girl, making her way out of the castle. As soon as Tetra left the room, Aryll turned her view to Niko, who was unsure what he should do right then. "So? What are you waiting for?" Aryll questioned Niko's indecisiveness. "Go on! Greet 'im, man!" That invitation was just enough for him. Niko jumped in joy and ran right out of the front door, almost falling down the stairs leading to the ground floor.

At the gates of Hyrule Castle Town, the villagers stopped their usual labors to watch as several new people arrived. Two old men, one tall and skinny and the other short and big-headed, surveyed the place with great interest, and were not shy to ask people where could one find good knowledge or good training. A family of a slim man, a bulgy woman and two boys wandered in, making incessant comments of where were they going to settle and raise the mother of all pigs. A recently married couple walked along, looking forward to what they called the perfect honeymoon retreat, followed behind by the woman's sister, reminding them that this move was pretty much permanent. Then, behind those people and some more, a short, elderly, silver haired woman was being assisted by a young man wearing a green tunic and matching cap into the town.

"... And don't you worry, Grandma, I have the perfect place where your new home will be." Link finished.

"Oh, I hope so, dearie." Grandma said. "I agreed to come with you because I missed you and because I wanted to see what you've accomplished, and I hope you understand that I can appreciate these things better when I'm sitting comfortably on the porch."

"Heh, heh... I know, Grandma." Link responded.

Then, the sound of rushing footsteps made the general public turn around. Link stopped when he noticed the footsteps as well and faced directly toward the source of the sound. Then, as the people started putting two and two together, they stepped aside and let Link see the one person dying to greet him: Tetra, recovering from the fatigue of running like mad all the way there, still looked straight at the person she had not seen for over five months.

"Eh... this way, Grandma." Aryll said, guiding Grandma outside of Link's vicinity. "I found these things over there, and they're delicious..."

Link stared right at Tetra with the fondest of eyes. He stepped forward and shrugged apologetically, knowing full well how worried he must have made her feel. At that moment, for the first time since Link's departure, Tetra let her tears roll freely... only this time, they were not sad, bitter tears, instead being happy, relieved and overjoyed tears.

"Sorry, I got held back." Link said softly as an apology.

"You're late." Tetra said playfully, talking through her cracked voice. Despite this, two more words were spoken in complete sincerity:

"Welcome back."

* * *

**END**

FINAL WORDS: I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, SO happy to finally reach my ending for ZOoL. This project was a great learning experience for this aspiring writer (who, of course, has a lot to improve still) and it was also a way to finally let out at least one of my many ideas to roam out of my mind and into the unsuspecting vict... eh... awesome people who read through the whole thing. I know I had highs and lows, and I know not every part of the story shines in the same sheen (heck, you ask me, I still say "this crappy story of mine"), but overall, I am happy with the end result... which is more of what I can say for my previous works, both finished and not.

This story may be a stretch, but considering how little we have to go by on canon to tie things together, I'd say this could be a pretty interesting theory of how New Hyrule was founded and how Tetra finally found the willpower and courage to take on her most difficult role ever: ruler of a nation. In a way, I have to say I grew as Tetra and Link grew in the story. For some odd reason, situations I wrote in the story began to reflect themselves in my life. No, it was not "Experience then write" but "Write then experience". For example, when the crew was hounded by Mendoza, I was also hounded by someone. Whenever I wrote Dante's parts, There was a real-life obstacle to my life goals. Whenever a solution was found in-story, one was also set to me in a similar fashion. Life imitating art much? Despite this uncanny coincidence, I can say that, even if only a bit, I have become more mature and more capable of facing those things I have been trying to hide from. I have said I have a real-life time limit to finishing this story, and it's true. I probably won't be able to return here after a while, but for the time being, do expect some one-shots based on this story.

I cannot finish speaking to you without thanking everyone who read this crappy story of mine.(See?) I had readers from the US, Canada, Mexico, Norway, the UK, Australia, Poland, the Netherlands, China, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Ireland, Finland, Germany, Peru, Spain, Austria, Panama, Sweden, Turks and Caicos Islands, Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Italy, Singapore, Denmark, Belgium, Vietnam and Chile. I am humbled and honored to be able to say that people from, say, Sweden were reading my story. To those that left comments, reviews and recommendations, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your comments gave me the drive to continue and the tools to try and improve as much as I could. REVIEW ANSWERIN' time says "good riddance", though. (BTW, if anybody wants an answer to your comments, be sure to leave a signed review so I can e-mail you back with it.)

To think, this story was initially going to be much different. The infamous book was never supposed to be a big thing, characters like Cyclos, Venus and Makar were not supposed to appear, the story was never supposed to have such a dramatic shift/push, the final boss was rebooted several times before settling on Twinrova, Mendoza was supposed to be the one who saves the day in the end instead of Linebeck... and the fact that I started before Spirit Tracks was released should speak volumes of how big my presumptions of the new world were. Waarheid and Dante were always supposed to be there, though, and the whole Link & Tetra tag-team dynamic was always planned. Regardless of original plans, I am glad how it eventually turned out.

I would share the first pic I ever made for ZOoL (before I decided to write it and all), but my scanner broke, so you will just have to imagine it. It was the part where Link and Tetra, beaten and battered, were holding hands, their backs to the viewer and looking up to the mouth-like cave entrance to the final confrontation (see chapter 17. Also, I totally did not rip off the bit from the Spirit Tracks ending). I was not a big TeLink shipper back then (Weird, no? I preferred Link/Marin.), but that pic alone gave me the drive to begin writing, and to go 16 chapters strong just to get to that point and to find out if they were going to be ok. Weird... but that's how I am: weird and full of ideas. (Dangerous mix, to be sure.)

To any aspiring writers reading this: Never give up. Your ideas are your own, and with the proper dedication and time, you can imagine new worlds and new characters. Never let anybody tell you that you can't, because you can. It's all up to you.

There are so many things I could tell you about the story behind the story of ZOoL, but I simply can't go on here. But to shorten things: doing this was so awesome, it was worth doing what was once an experiment to "continue the story of TWW/PH", as I thought in the beginning. And who knows? Maybe someone will recommend this fic on TV tropes or something... (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

And now... the real reason I wrote such a long final word:

_**The Super Secret Final 100% Completion Ending!**_

(Well, not so secret if you've been watching the scroll bar...)

Somewhere, in a strange and pure-white area, two squat, green-skinned elderly women appeared, sporting a halo on each head.

"Wh... what's that on your head, sister?" Kotake wondered as she looked at the halo on her sister's head.

"I don't know... but you have one as well." Koume pointed out after looking at Kotake's head.

Both sisters thought of the implications of the halos on their heads for a moment. Then it hit them: they were wearing the signals of their death. Again. Nedless to say, they were furious.

"Ack! This can't be! I can't be dead again!" Koume yelled while thrashing about in rage.

"And we were so close to our goal, too! It's unfair!" Kotake screamed as she shook her head with her hands in rage.

"And I was just 600 years old!" Koume lamented.

"And I was just 595 years old!" Kotake lamented as well.

Koume stopped thrashing about and stared at her sister with an annoyed face. "What? We're twins. How can you be younger?"

"Oh, don't be so insensitive, Koume!" Kotake retorted.

"Insensitive?" Koume asked, her rage filling anew. "Watch your mouth! You can't speak to me that way! I'm your older sister!"

"Older?" Kotake questioned with an incredulous face. "We're twins! You can't be older!"

"You can be so heartless!" Koume shouted. "If you weren't already dead, I'd give you such a wallop, you heartless..."

"Don't let that stop you..." Kotake responder, putting up her dukes. "... you insensitive..."

"HEY!"

A sudden manly voice stopped the twin witches' bickering. When Koume and Kotake turned, they saw Dante sitting at a table with some cards on his hand and playing with Mesaballeon, Wizzrobe King and the Hinox Twins. All of them were wearing halos. "Would you mind to quiet down? You're messing up my game."

Koume and Kotake stared incredulously at the shameful spectacle in front of them. They slowly walked away from the card-playing group and hung their heads, sighing in defeat.

"This is going to be a loooong afterlife, won't it, Kotake?" Koume said gloolily.

"Tell me about it." Kotake responded.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the land of the living. Specifically, in the kingdom of Hyrule:

Everything was settling down. Anybody who needed their own house already had a ceiling over their heads. Economy was booming overall. People were already settling themselves in areas other than Castle Town after Gonzo had perfected the handcart ("Nice construction! Good... to begin with." Anjean said), showing that, despite the happiness they had found, they were no longer depending so much on the Princess constantly being there. They all looked for places they were more comfortable in through the north,south, east and west. Aryll and Grandma in particular wanted a place in which they felt was more their style, so they moved south to the newly founded village of Aboda.

And because everything was shifting to normalcy, things around Hyrule Castle began to take a turn for the boring. This was the third straight day in which Tetra had nothing particularly important or interesting in agenda. She mostly paced around the castle, overseeing some military drills, looking at the scenery, reading a book recommended by Mako and playing some board games with Niko. Even he wasn't too excited about it. In the afternoon, she was on her chambers, writing on her diary as usual, though her entry was turning out to be extraordinarily short due to the lack of excitement of the day.

"_It's in times like these that I wish I could just do something else._" Tetra wrote down. "_But I have a responsibility to my people. Besides... I have no clue what sort of thing I could do._"

As she was writing, though, Tetra could feel an odd presence right behind her. She turned around quickly, only to see Link, a sly smile drawn on his face, reading her diary intently. "Wh... what are you doing?" Tetra shouted, closing her diary quickly, looking positively flustered over such intrusion. Her surprise was so great that she picked up the first thing she could find with the intention to throw at him.

"What are you doing with the Phantom Hourglass?" Link asked as he stepped back, keeping his sly smile.

"Eh... I dunno." She admitted. Her thought's quickly returned to what just happened. "What are you thinking?" Tetra asked, her face turning rather apprehensive. Link didn't say a word. "Link... don't creep me out like that. You're planning something, so just say it."

Then, Link produced an old rolled parchment from within his tunic. He opened the parchment and set in on Tetra's table, showing the map that was drawn on it, and a small note that was written on the bottom that said 'Property of Emperor Dante'.

Tetra could see what Link was trying to suggest. Still, she felt this was something she could just not go along with. "No, Link, no. I have my duties, and I can't shirk them just to go off on some adventure."

"Hmm... Allow me to suggest a broken logic." Link began, waving his hands about. "Everything's settling down. You have trusted advisors that could take the helm in case you couldn't... for example, if you were sick... The people have outgrown their initial dependence on you. You deserve this for all you've gone through." Tetra was still undecided on whether she should truly take Link up on his offer. "My ship's ready to sail, in any case."

Tetra's gaze turned to her closet. Amongst the myriad of dresses and other fancy clothing, one could barely see her old captain's clothes, which she had sent to mend up, but never used again after that fateful day. That blue coat and white pair of pants were of great nostalgic value, but were certainly unfit for almost everything she was to do as Princess. This opportunity, however...

Tetra then turned to Link, and the hero in green was surprised when she gave him a mischievous smile and wink in a way she had not done in a long time.

* * *

"Chief? You there?" Niko called towards the Princess' chambers. Hearing no answer, he braved to enter. "Chief? I just wanted to tell you that your laundry is done, and... what happened here?"

Niko took a long look at the room, which was unusually messy. Dresses were thrown to the floor, the chair and some papers were strewn about, and the carpet was pushed out of its position. When Niko searched to see if there was a clue to what happened there, he found a note hastily fastened to a stone. It read:

_Dear Niko:_

_You and Mako know how to run things here now, so take over in my absence. I'll be gone for a short while, and I'll return soon, so don't worry about me or Link._

_Sincerely_

_Z.T.H._

Niko couldn't help but laugh after reading the note. "Those two must be the craziest couple I have ever met."

* * *

The sky was clear, the sun was shining brightly and the sea was calm. The seagulls cawed happily and the fish hopped along the wakes formed by a certain red ship. The air was as fresh as it could be and carried a unique fragrance that only the sea air could bring. In this perfect day, Link and Tetra sailed away into the horizon, searching for a new adventure to conquer, seeking hidden treasures to unearth and new places to explore. The wind rustling around their hair was enticing enough, and the healthy chugging of the ship's steam engine was like a driving force behind it all. For Link and Tetra, this was truly the perfect day to begin a new adventure...

... one which they sealed with a kiss.

* * *

(Now for reals)

_The Legend of Zelda:_

_Overlord of the Land_

**THE END**

(Finished Monday, May 31 2010 at 1:17 am)

(**DISCLAIMER:** "The Legend of Zelda", and all related characters, settings, music, mythology, story, etc. is property of Nintendo Company Ltd., Nintendo of America and all other respective parties. Any other non-original characters and music are copyright of their respective owners. Any original story, settings and characters are of Ninkobra/Lightweight.)


End file.
